


GreekTale

by MrWar1, Staringback



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Demi-goddess Frisk, F/M, Greek God inspirations, Hades and persephone myth, Kidnapping, Monsters are Gods, Mount Ebott is technically Mount Olympus, Obsessed Sans, Possible Stockholm Syndrome, Reapertale(ish) with some changes, Very Slow-aging Frisk, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 03:58:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 61,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11028159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrWar1/pseuds/MrWar1, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Staringback/pseuds/Staringback
Summary: He caused death, he was surrounded by death, he was the living embodiment of death and he was feared by both the humans and his own kind.  And yet even somebody as dark as him wanted just a little taste of the light.  And could anybody really blamed him when he stole a bright light for his very own?Loosely based on the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone.





	1. A Celebration and a Not so Familiar Face

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MrWar1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrWar1/gifts).



> Hope you all enjoy this crazy retelling of our favorite Greek myth staring the Undertale Cast!

**_The story goes that after the GREAT WAR between the humans who were led by Toriel, the GENTLE MOTHER and the creator of all life, and the GODS who were led by the terrible, oppressive and bloodthirsty king of GODS and god of the sky, ASGORE, the realm where the gods lived in, which was located in the forbidden Mountain of Ebbot, was spilt._ **

 

**_Whether the GENTLE MOTHER was banished from her home for going against her own kind or chose to leave on her own, the humans didn’t know.  All they knew was that if it weren’t for her and the love she had for her creations, their entire race would have been obliterated by the cruel and unforgiving gods that the humans once worshipped._ **

 

**_And now every year since the day the gods raced back to their homes in the forbidden mountain admitting defeat, never to been seen or worshipped by the humans again, the humans thanked their GENTLE MOTHER for the sacrifices she made to save them._ **

 

**_And to show her how truly grateful they were, each year they held an annual celebration in her honor, The Festival of Life and Freedom.  A festival that let her know that even though the war ended many years ago, the humans still remembered everything she did for them.  That even though the Gods of Death may take their SOULS to the Underworld at any time, they could never take the humans’ hope away that the earth will forever belonged to them. The GENTLE MOTHER would make sure that their children would inherit the earth and their children’s children would inherit the earth and their children’s children’schildren would inherit the earth._ **

 

**_Generations of humans may die but the GODS could never truly kill them.  Their race and the world they lived in would live on._ **

 

**_It was rumored that was the last thing the GENTLE MOTHER spat at ASGORE before she left Mount Ebott never to been seen again by the GODS and even though the humans themselves never saw her after the war, they knew she was watching over them.  Blessing them._ **

 

And so every year as the final rays of the sun left the floor of the earth, thousands of lanterns were lit up all at the same time from different areas of the world, disgracing the darkness of the oncoming night, as humans from all walks of life found themselves at the center of their small villages, large towns and big cities.  

 

And what a colorful parade of people it was.  The females wore brightly colored tunics and togas of all kinds with golden flowers lovingly weaved in their hair and no matter what the age, every lady wore a purple scarf around their shoulders that softly swung behind them in the warm wind as they giddily and happily chatted with their friends or with their children or with their husbands or lovers as they made their way to their towns’ squares.  

 

The men wore purple togas, much longer and more flowing than they were used to, some even tripping, stumbling  and falling over the material but they still walked with pride and puffed up their chest for all to see the symbols that were stitched into their clothing: a circle with wings floating above three triangles. The universal symbol of the GENTLE MOTHER who was always watching over her children. 

 

And while the men were nowhere near as bright or as flashy as the ladies of their towns, they easily matched their female counterparts’ excitement.  Some men even going as far as grabbing their partners or children and swinging them in the air, eliciting screams of happiness even before the event began.  

 

For humans, this night was as the single greatest night of the year.  Almost all humans were excused from their daily chores on the day leading up to this sacred night and many of them took it upon themselves to set up the festivities for the night.  They woke up at the crack of dawn before the sun came up and poured everything they had in their SOULS to decorate their towns’ squares.  

 

And while they all knew the GENTLE MOTHER loved each one of them dearly and would bless them regardless of how humble or extravagant their celebrations to her were, most humans couldn’t help but hope their tributes would personally be noticed by the GENTLE MOTHER.  And as a reward for their devotion and love, the GREAT MOTHER would send her  **_beloved daughter,_ ** the demi-goddess, Frisk to visit them during their celebration.  

 

Nobody knew for sure how Frisk was created or what the GENTLE MOTHER made her out of since she was neither fully human nor fully a GOD, but the humans DID know the demi-goddess was created  **_after_ ** the war between the humans and the oppressive GODS.  And as far as the humans were concerned, Frisk was part of their savior and so everybody desired to see her.   They viewed Frisk as a sort of messenger from the GENTLE MOTHER.

 

But getting the demi-goddess to visit was a mystery. The humans didn’t know what attracted Frisk’s attention to certain areas.  It seemed the demi-goddess chose places at complete random.  

 

And so with that in mind, no expenses were spared as the more wealthy humans poured their money in the festivals ensuring that everybody would leave with huge smiles on their faces.  

 

And as more and more humans poured into their towns’ squares until not even a SOUL was left in a single home,  they waited.   Children twitched, fidgeted, stomped their feet and whined good-naturedly, some holding onto their parents’ hands, waiting for their guardian's’ permission to play while the older and more knowledgeable children looked towards their area’s leader like a majority of the impatient adults were doing.  

 

They waited with bated breath. And as the sun finally left their sights, their area's’ elected officials turned towards the impatient crowds and screamed what they all were waiting to hear:

 

“LET US THANK THE GREAT MOTHER FOR HER LOVE AND PROTECTION!”

 

And with those words, the world became a bright ball of animated life. The humans broke out into their long-awaited yearly celebration.  

 

Musicians played hard and long throughout the night for hours on end, sweat pouring from their heads, but the joy of being alive and the love they had not only for their own people but for the GENTLE MOTHER who was no doubt watching their display of thanking her for her gift of life and protection overpowered any minor and insignificant discomfort them might be experiencing.  They would play for eternity if they knew that would please the GENTLE MOTHER. 

 

And as the music played and swelled, loud laughter from both children and adults soared through the air.  Children ran all around the lighted area of their dark homes, playing silly games they always played during the day but there was a more chaotic and powerful feeling of playing those same games at night without having to be scared of the dark that made the children just a tad bit wilder.  

 

The humans adults and teenagers danced, the ladies’ long and beautiful scarves flowing behind them like a pair of purple wings as their dance partners spun and twirled them to the beat of the music while the men tried their hardest to look gracefully as they danced but more than once found themselves tripping over their togas and stumbling to the ground.   Sometimes they fell by themselves and sometimes they brought their partners or another dancer down with them but no matter what it evoked more good-natured laughter from all the other dancers surrounding them before those same people helped the fallen ones back on their feet.  

 

And the smell of delicious food was everywhere.  Cooked meats and desserts filled every nostrils and were offered freely to all who desired them, but the scent that overpowered all else was the faint aroma of cinnamon and butterscotch.  Even those who didn’t like pie would have a slice simply because it was tradition.  

 

And the shouting.  More than once a human’s voice would manage to rise above the music and noise to shout a praise for the GENTLE MOTHER and it would be met with thunderous applause.  And so the celebration went.

 

The adults danced, kissed their lovers and drank heartily while the children played and ate sweets.  And even as they enjoyed their holiday, they waited and hoped to see if their devotion would bring the GENTLE MOTHER’s beloved daughter to their homes.

 

However on this particular year, in a tiny village that was celebrating with just as much joy and happiness as any large city was doing, Nectara, a young girl in her seventeenth year, was dancing merrily with her soon to be husband when she felt a shy tug at the bottom of her tunic.

 

Halting her dance and giving her lover a puzzled smile both of them turned to see who had wanted her attention.  

 

Still holding a bit of the lady’s dark blue tunic in her hand was a beautiful little girl who looked like she was in the ninth year of her life.  Much like the other children, this child wore bright colors but unlike them her toga was two different colors dyed into the material instead of one solid color.  It was a design that Nectara had never seen before, almost like the child’s toga had…. **_strips_ ** of pink and blue.   The toga itself was a little bit too big for her as evident by the way the child kept having to pull the strap up, but her purple scarf was neatly wrapped around her shoulders.  She wore a crown made of golden flowers on top of her head that nearly covered her eyes, but based on the way she tilted her head up gave Nectara the impression the child could see perfectly fine through her golden blindfold.  

 

Nectara had never seen this child in her village before but that didn’t mean anything.  Families that lived in different villages often visited to celebrate together.  

 

The child gave a little bow.

 

“Hello beautiful lady, may I have a dance with you?” the child asked, a small seductive smirk on her face.

 

Nectara’s lover laughed loudly and nudged her playfully while she giggled at the strange child’s odd but bold request.  And just as she was about to bow to accept the child’s dance offer,  her smile vanished when she noticed something by the child’s feet.  And it would seem that at the same time everybody in her village noticed the same thing about this child that brought everything to a screeching halt.  The music stopped playing, the people stopped dancing and the children stopped running about.

 

The child wore no shoes and while that was an odd thing to see, what was even more incredible was seeing beautiful flowers blooming out of the earth that weren’t there before in the shape of tiny child-like footprints leading up to the child that was still holding unto Nectara’s tunic.  

 

The silence stretched.  Fear, excitement, and disbelief filled Nectara’s mind as realization struck her and when she looked around the familiar faces of the people she grew up with, their expressions seemed to mimic her feelings.  And when she look down at the child again, the arrogant and flirty smile on the little girl’s face had vanished.  In it’s place was an uneasy smile as the little one looked around the crowd that was now staring at her in complete silence and after a few seconds she gave a nervous laugh and a fake cough before she directed herself at the stunned teenager.

 

“So…”the demi-goddess, Frisk tried again as she smiled up at Nectara, “is that a yes or a no?”  

 

And screams praising the GENTLE MOTHER raised up in the air as the music began again and without further delay, Nectara grabbed the child, taking on the role of the male dancer and spun the laughing child around.

*****************************************************************************************************

**_It was more a self-banishment as opposed to an actual blandishment.  After the Great War between the humans and Gods ended, Toriel was never officially banished from her home on Mount Ebott even though the Gods and Goddesses that fought against her, particularly the Goddess of War, Undyne, voiced that desire._ **

 

**_But for as much as they shouted curses to her face during the war and muttered unkind things behind her back after the war, the gods were surprised and taken aback when she never came back to make amends with her husband or with the other gods.  It made sense that during the war she lived among the humans.  So after the war all the Gods expected her to returned to her home and to some extent the Gods had been right._ **

 

**_But instead of living among them at the top of the mountain and resuming her title as Queen of the Gods, she chose to live on an area of land at the very bottom of the mountain close to the barrier that separated the Gods’ realm from the human’s world, which often was referred to as the Ruins by the other Gods._ **

 

**_The area was nicknamed that because of how ruined the soil was from the magical effects of the barrier killing anything that tried to grow there and many of the Gods and Goddesses had giggled and laughed when they saw it was the area Toriel chose to build her new home in._ **

 

**_Of course the laughter stopped and turned to shock and annoyance when, only after a few months, the once barren wasteland was now bright green with healthy grass, a sparkling small pond now simmered beautifully outside the tiny cottage and vibrant and colorful wildflowers of all kind grew everywhere that almost, but not quite put Asgore’s own private garden to shame.  The shock was short lived as a majority of the Gods and Goddesses turned to one another and muttered in hushed voices seeing something like that should have been expected.  After all, Toriel did have the power to bring life to anything._ **

 

**_But despite her rebellious acts of defiance the other gods and goddesses knew it was only a matter of time before she cracked and returned home to Asgore, who had made it clear almost instantly he still desired her even though she had outright betrayed her own people.  And once she did crack and come home, she could use her influence over the humans to allow them to welcome back the Gods and Goddesses they once worshiped and over time, the Gods and Goddesses were sure they would be able to win back their positions of power over the humans._ **

 

**_Or at least that was the plan._ **

 

**_And so they waited.  And waited.  Days turned into months and months turned into years and years turned into decades and during the time they waited, the Gods and Goddesses threw parties constantly, at first to celebrate the fact that, for awhile at least, they wouldn’t have to deal with ungrateful humans.  They played their music loud and nonstop, hoping Toriel would hear it._ **

 

**_And as the years continued, the parties and the games and the laughter began to feel a little strained.   And suddenly the parties were no longer a fun event but rather a thing to help pass the time.  And suddenly being stuck on a mountain seeing the same people over and over again was becoming torturous.  And knowing their special talents, gifts and ideas  they could offer the humans were being wasted was downright painful.  So painful in fact that even the Goddess of War, Undyne suddenly wished they hadn’t been too hasty when they declared war on humanity all those years ago._ **

 

**_They all wanted to have the freedom they once had to come and go as they please.  To share their gifts and see their ideas come to life in the human world.  But..._ **

 

**_Toriel was the only way for them to regain their places in the human world without another war starting.  Humans may have lost a lot more lives in that war but the fact they somehow managed to achieve the unbelievable and  kill a few gods even with the gods of death against them was...haunting.  And so the gods and goddesses needed to come up with an idea._ **

 

**_And one day, on the very day when the humans were celebrating The Festival of Life and Freedom, the gods and goddesses came up with a plan that could very well help make amends with their lost sister._ **

 

Toriel woke up in a half snore as somebody knocked on her door and her very first groggy thought was her child was finally back from the celebrations.  And as she woke up further, moaning, her joints aching as they always did when she fell asleep in her chair, she realized the person at her door could not have been her child.

 

Why would her child be knocking on her own door? And when that thought entered her head, Toriel immediately tensed up, pushing herself out of her rocking chair and walking to the door.  It had been...years since she last had a visitor and the thought of that particular visitor caused Toriel to tightened her paws into fists as an unintentional snarl left her mouth.  

 

Many years ago before she created Frisk, and a little after the war ended, her one and only visitor came knocking on her door and when she opened it she saw Asgore valiantly holding a bouquet of beautiful flowers up to her face.  His eyes had softened and filled with a passionate love as he looked her over.  He offered a truce along with his undying love declaring that no matter what any of the other Gods and Goddesses said he still loved her.  

 

“My love...my darling wife...please come back to our home,” was his plea and he eagerly waited for her response. 

 

And respond she did.  Only instead of a lover’s embrace like he expected, she hurled a series of fireballs at him, setting his beard and flowers on fire as he tried his best to dodge them and when he realized she wasn’t gonna stop he rushed back up the mountain.

 

After that nobody else visited her.   Until tonight that was and while seeing her murderous and disgusting ex-husband sent a slimy lump down her throat, the thought of setting him on fire again made her smile and so as she opened her door, she started to channel her magic into her hands.  The tips of her claw began to glow a faint  orange.  The odor of smoke hit her.  

 

Her visitor was not Asgore.  Nor was it any god or goddess she knew.  In fact if it weren’t for the man’s gray skin she would have honestly thought a human had finally managed to break through Asgore’s barrier.  

 

And looking past the unusual gray skin, Toriel knew the humans would have found this man incredibly handsome.  His hair was pure black and styled so that his bangs covered his left eye while his other eye was a bright and lively pink.  He was tall and tone with very curvy legs and he must have known that because he wore a short and silky pink toga that fell just below his thighs showing every detail of his legs off.

 

When she opened the door, he immediately flashed her a very pretty and white smile.  He opened his arms wide as though he were going to embrace her and if he were blessed with intelligence, his arms better not find themselves around Toriel’s body.  

 

“Darling!  How have you been?”

 

Toriel blinked.  The voice  **_sounded_ ** familiar, incredibly familiar but she didn’t recognized the face and his face was definitely something she would never forget.  The gray man’s smile widened as Toriel stood unresponsive in the doorway.  

 

“Come now Toriel, don’t tell me you don’t recognize me!”

 

And then it clicked with the Goddess of Life.  The man standing at her doorway was the God of Art...Mettaton.  The goat goddess blinked again.  ****

 

**_Mettaton…_ **

 

And the memories came flooding back to her.  Before the war she and the other Gods and Goddesses would spent hours listening to his pretty words of poetry or watching his over-dramatic plays that couldn’t helped be loved by all, including Toriel herself.  But…

 

Her body stiffened with dislike.  

 

She also remembered him to be a  vain and pompous man, constantly changing his appearance on a whim with the help of that spineless Goddess of Intelligence Alphys, and now it appeared he wanted look like the race of people her husband tried to destroy.  But that wasn’t what made Toriel’s dislike for him start brewing in the pit of her stomach.

 

While some artists had a tendency to be reserve-snobs, this God treated some of the lesser Gods more poorly than he should of. 

 

“Mettaton…” she said coolly as if this wasn’t the first time she had spoken to another god in over three hundred years, and looked past him to make sure Frisk was not entering through the barrier but she doubted her child would be back so early.

 

 The night was still young as the humans would say and if everything went smoothly, Toriel would no doubt see her child stumbling in their home on exhausted feet in the early morning, face covered in sticky residue from the many sweets she devoured with stories to tell about how many people she danced with or the games the human children taught her.  

 

It was the one year of the night where Toriel allowed her to cross the barrier and join the humans in their yearly celebration.  It was Frisk’s favorite day of the year, Mother’s day she called it and even though her child often begged her to attend the celebrations as well, Toriel would quietly shake her head, leaving the child only minorly disappointed but not enough to crush her excitement.

 

While Toriel did love her creations and watched over them from a distance to make sure they lived peaceful and fulfilled lives, she preferred not to attend their celebrations.  The only time she attended one was years ago when her child had first learned to walk and the goat goddess had watched with horrified fascination at how...completely devoted the humans were to her.  They screamed out her name, they praised her to no end and they danced hard until the first rays of light broke up their parties.  

 

It was...unsettling.  Granted they worshiped her before the war but these displays of devotion were...a little too much.  If they were celebrating life in general, Toriel would probably joined in on the festivities herself.  No she would have hosted the events herself if they were merely celebrating life but they made Toriel the focus on their celebrations.  

 

But despite her unwillingness to go, Frisk made it clear from the first time she saw the humans celebrate that she wanted to be part of all that fun.  And knowing how lonely a life of isolation could be, Toriel agreed her daughter could go but with all the caution of a nerve-wrecked mother.

 

The child would wear a crown of flowers and the very moment those flowers detected even the smallest injury on the demi-goddess, Frisk would immediately be teleported back to Toriel’s home.

 

Luckily, throughout the years Frisk had attended the festival, not once did she return home against her will.  And during that time Toriel would realize how lonely and quiet her home was without her beloved child. 

 

“What brings you here?”  She finally asked when she was sure not even a brown hair on Frisk’s head was coming towards them.  While she knew that the other Gods and Goddesses most definitely had found out about Frisk at this point, Toriel didn’t know what they thought of her which was one of the reasons why Frisk never left Toriel’s sight.  

 

In was kind of funny, on nights like tonight when Frisk entered the human world on her own, Toriel felt easy about her child’s safety, but when she was playing in their own front yard, Toriel was constantly on edge, looking up at the top of the mountain to make sure that no revengeful god or goddess swoop down and killed the half-human half-god being.

 

Ignoring her icy tone and humming what she imaged was the his most fashionable song at the moment, Mettaton reached into the pocket of his toga and pulled out a decorative scroll, holding it out dramatically for her to take.

 

Toriel made no move to take it.

 

“Darling, your presence is requested and desired for Asgore’s latest celebration-”

 

With a stoically cold face, Toriel slammed the door on Mettaton and started to walk back into her living room when she heard a tapping on her window.  She glared in the direction of the noise to see Mettaton’s face pressed against the glass.  If she weren’t so annoyed she might have been amused at how ridiculous he looked.

 

“Peek-a-boo!  I see you,” he said and despite herself Toriel almost laughed. Instead she walked up to the window and began to close the curtain and as she lowered them, Mettaton lowered his head so his eyes could still be on hers.

 

“Oh come on darling, it’s just a party,” he begged only to have Toriel shut the curtain fully on him.  

 

She grunted in satisfaction until she saw Mettaton’s face in a different window, tapping that one as well to get her attention.

 

**_Is he serious?_ ** The goddess thought as she walked over to the window to cover it up as well.

 

“Look darling, we all miss you dearly.  It’s not just Asgore who wants you to return-” Mettaton began to say only for his sentence to be interrupted by the curtain.

 

Sighing ,Toriel looked over to her final exposed window and sure enough there he was and as she started to walk over to that window, Mettaton’s playful smile disappeared and was replaced with a more grim look.

 

“You weren’t the only god that wanted the humans to win the war, my beautiful lady.”

 

Toriel halted her actions and snorted out a bleat.

 

“Wasn’t I?” she said coldly.  “I’m sorry but if I recall correctly I do believe I was the only goddess who was fighting alongside the humans.  Where were these so-called other gods and goddesses who wanted humanity to live?”

 

Maybe it was the total disdain in her voice but Mettaton actually took a step away from the house and needed to take a moment to compose himself before he answered and when he did, he didn’t sound so...confident anymore.

 

“Do you recall any of the merchant gods or goddesses fighting against the humans, darling?  Or the Fire God of Celebration and Festivals giving his loyalty to Asgore?  Or did you see my cousin offering his magic to kill the humans off?  Or did I ever harm a human during the war?” Mettaton gave out a little laugh.  “Come to think of it I never harmed a single human in my life.  I loved humans…” he looked pleadingly at Toriel.  “I still do.”

 

When she didn’t respond, Mettaton continued.  

 

“We wanted to oppose the war but what could we do?  What could we say?  We aren’t strong like you, Toriel.  We are not strong enough to oppose Asgore and our talents could not help you.  The best thing we could have done was remain neutral.  You know that too, don’t you darling?”  

 

Toriel felt her hard composure softened and hated it.  Yes...she supposed Mettaton was correct.  While the stronger Gods and Goddesses were seen on earth during the war, killing humans by the hundreds, many of the the weaker ones did not enter the battlefield.  It was something Toriel had noticed but that still didn’t ease the pain of watching her creations being killed off in the most painful fashions while the weaker Gods and Goddesses watched on without even trying to help in anyway possible.  But she supposed Mettaton was right about that one too.  What can Grillby, the God of Celebration do?  Get everybody so drunk nobody would want to fight?

 

She looked at Mettaton again and suddenly a fresh frenzy of memories began to invade her mind.  Yes the God of Art was vain and arrogant, but he also was the God who brought all forms of art to the humans and filled their world with color and music.  He was the God who spent tireless hours running through the human realm, encouraging and pushing people to create beautiful music, new types of clothing, and different types of literature.  And yes he was a God who did not involve himself in the war.

 

Mettaton smiled at her sheepishly.  “I’m not going to lie to you, that would insult your intelligence, darling.  This invitation was devised by Asgore as an attempt to win you back,” he paused for Toriel to laugh before he continued.  “But I didn’t say anything against his idea because I know this is the only chance we have to make peace with you again.”

 

At those words, Toriel’s ears perked up.  

 

“I am no longer quarreling with you-”

 

Mettaton nodded.  “Yes but you left no kind or gentle words or offerings of peace for the gods and goddesses who refuse to fight with Asgore.  You left them with your hatred and I know I may be overstepping my lines with the Goddess of Life, but that’s not fair.”

 

Toriel blinked at the statement before a powerful feeling of shame hit her.

 

Mettaton pulled out the invitation again and lightly tapped it on the window that separated the two powerful beings.

 

“This invitation is a way to bridge that gap, darling.  Give us the peace and forgiveness many of us had longed for for so many years but have been too terrified to ask you for.  Come to the party.  Enjoy the food and drinks and rebuild the friendships we all lost” and as he said that, Mettaton looked around the area that Toriel now called home.

 

“It must be so terribly lonely here.”

 

********************************************************************************************************

While he tried to focus his attention on tending to his garden Asgore’s eyes kept wandering towards the door.  He was waiting for Mettaton’s return.  For Toriel’s response.

 

If she said  **_no_ ** then things would remain as they were now for hundreds of years to come until the Gods and Goddesses were only a fairy tale or myth for the humans of the future...but if she said yes…

 

If she said yes, hope would bloom for better days to come for the Gods and Goddesses who truly did want to return to the human world.  Asgore chuckled sadly he delicately ran his thumb and index finger through a bright purple flower petal.  

 

Who knew that Gods and Goddesses would ever need hope to live in their paradise world?  Asgore never thought they would and yet here he was, standing in his beautiful garden, hoping Mettaton would come back with the answer all of them wanted.  

 

And when the odd gray and pink god came rushing into his garden with a huge smile on his face, Asgore didn’t need to be told what her answer was.  Hope and happiness bloomed violently in his chest.  

 

“My King, she said yes!  Toriel said she will be attending the party tomorrow evening!  Isn’t that smashing?” Mettaton reported.

 

Asgore broke into loud laughter as he placed his hands on Mettaton’s shoulders.

 

“This is most joyous news, Mettaton!  How did you managed to-”

 

“ i do so hate to interrupt this happy moment, my king, but i just wanted to stop by to get my invitation to this latest  **_shin-done-dig_ ** ,” a deep voice chuckled at his own joke as he interrupted the King’s sentence.  

 

Mettaton’s smile disappeared and the king saw the gray God of Art visibly shake as did most Gods and Goddesses did whenever the rarely seen Second God of Death made his appearance known.  Giving Mettaton a small and reassuring smile, Asgore turned towards Sans.

 

The skeleton was standing on a small barren part of Asgore’s garden, the closest flower to him was the lovely blue echo flowers.  One of Asgore’s favorite types of flowers.

 

Dressed in a hooded black tunic, the skeleton God pulled the hood back almost as if to show Asgore he truly was Sans, the God of Death before he offered a bow to the King of all Gods with a wide mocking grin on his face.  

 

“ it seems that when alphys was handing out invitations she gave my brother his, but neglected to give me mine.  a mistake no doubt,” Sans said as his grin stretched.

 

**_That was no mistake Sans,_ ** Asgore thought but didn’t have the heart OR courage to say it aloud.   **_We don’t need you coming to this one.  If Toriel sees you, there will be no talk of peace among the humans and Gods._ **

 

“ so did i just overhear toriel is gracing us with her presence?   i guess it’s kind of weird but lucky that out all the parties i decided to skip this is one i want to attend,” Sans chuckled again and held out his bony hand expectedly for his invitation.  

 

Asgore took a deep breath, wondering how he should explain why Sans couldn’t come to this event without insulting the God of Death.

 

“Sans, please understand I don’t think you-”

 

All the words froze up in his throat as Sans moved so that his foot just barely touched an nearby echo flower.  All the flowers in that area instantly lost their vibrant colors and shriveled up before exploding into small piles of dust.  Mettaton’s eyes widened in horror while Asgore swallowed nervously.

 

Sans looked at his little display of destruction with a small smile before he widened his pitch black sockets with fake distress.  

 

“ oh my, i’m so sorry, my king!” he said before a cold grin erupted on his face.  “ now what were you saying?”

 

Asgore swallowed again.  “I’ll...I’ll make sure you get your invitation.”

 

The skeleton chuckled, winking his socket at the visibly shaking king.  “ thank you.  i knew you would never insult me by intentionally not inviting me to a party where toriel would finally be attending.  just the thought that i can finally make amends to the goddess of life for my actions against her creatures is making these ol’ bones of mine rattle..”

 

Asgore managed a smile.  “Let...let me get your invitation.”

 

The skeleton chuckled again.  

 

 


	2. Getting Ready

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your lovely comments and Kudos! We love them! ^^

 

Yawning happily, her toga dirty and ripped from dancing with the adults and playing with the other children, her hair disheveled and her face sticky and smeared from all the sweets she consumed, the tiny demi-goddess felt the exhaustion hit her almost at once as she quietly sneaked away from the celebration.

 

She didn’t like to sneak away, in fact she felt a little rude doing it after they’ve been so kind and welcoming to her but many years ago, during the first festival she attended without her mother, Frisk made the mistake of publicly saying goodbye to the humans.  If she had thought the commotion they first made when she appeared was embarrassing,  the farewell they gave her was ten times worse.  

 

And while she knew they were praising mama and showing respect when they bid her farewell, that still didn’t ease the awkward uncomfortable blush that tinted her cheeks when many of the humans fell to their knees bowing to her, some even throwing their jewelry at her feet.  

 

She didn’t accept the jewelry but their offerings did give her an idea on how she could thank the humans for their warm kindness.  After every celebration, right before she would leave, she would...soak a little bit of her weak magic into the ground and the next day when all the humans woke up probably hungover and exhausted from their dancing and playing, they would be greeted by colorful and beautiful flowers surrounding the barren and uninhabitable areas of their villages, towns and cities.

 

And that’s exactly how she thanked the small village for their kindness as well.  As she sneaked away, hoping her flowery footprints wouldn’t be noticed by the many dancing couples, though at this point the entire area of the dance floor along with the many areas that children were playing at were covered in colorful footprints, Frisk stopped her silent escape to briefly touched her first dancing partner, Nectara, on the hand as the teenager kissed her lover.  Frisk sent all her hopes that the lady would have a happy life.  A good life full of laughter and love and with that she rushed away.

 

As she ran from the town, making sure she was all alone she leaned down and touched the earth with her hands,  her magic coming out through her fingertips and spreading into the soft soil.  It was a draining process that made her much more exhausted.  Being just half God and using magic was hard enough for Frisk but using an excessive amount, as she was currently doing, was almost more than what she could bare, but  the humans deserved a reward, even if the only thing Frisk could give them were flowers.  Her mother would take care of the hard part of blessing the humans but Frisk wanted to be a small part of that too.  

 

And so, after she was done, the demi-goddess child stood back up and silently waved goodbye to the noisy village with a soft smile on her face, thanking the adults for welcoming her and the children for letting her play with them.  

 

And Gods, did she play with those children.  They even taught her a new game.  Baseball.  Despite the many rules it was probably her favorite game the human children taught her out of all the festivals she attended and just like every celebration before this one, she wished she could have stayed longer and played with the children more but the sun would be coming up soon and….

 

And her mother….

 

She knew as soon as she stepped out of the human land and into the Realm of the Gods and Goddesses, the first thing she would see would be her mother eagerly waiting for her outside their small cottage for her return.  And for the many years Frisk left and came back the routine after the celebration was always the same.

 

Frisk would return home and Toriel, or “ **_mama”_ ** as she called her creator and guardian,  would first check to see if there were any injuries on Frisk’s body and when she was satisfied, mama and her would sit down at the family table and discuss what village Frisk visited this year, the fun new games the human children taught her and after a few minutes of chatting, mama would give her a bath, clean all the dirt and stickiness from her body and then tuck her into bed.  A perfect end to a nearly perfect night...though to be honest, it would have been much better if mama attended the celebrations but…

 

Mama never came.  Not once during the many years that Frisk attended the celebrations did mama come (if Frisk excluded her first party) and while Frisk understood how uncomfortable the festivals made mama (the greetings the humans gave were a little too much), Frisk couldn’t help but imagine how disappointed the humans must feel never seeing her.  After all, the celebrations were for the Goddess of Life and to never show up to your own party must make the party planners feel...disappointed.  

 

However, her mother’s absent never did seem to put a depressing note on their celebrations.  Out of curiosity many years ago, during a dance with an old man that couldn’t do much more than spin Frisk around, she asked him if the humans ever felt...sad mama never showed up.  The old man had laughed and told Frisk humans understood the mother of life had more important things to do than attend celebrations.  The old man also added that since “THE GENTLE MOTHER” couldn’t personally attend, the humans felt the need to celebrate and enjoy their party to the fullest.  They would laugh louder, play their music harder and scream out their praises to make sure mama heard them.  

 

It touched Frisk to see that humans could still believe in something they’ve never seen before.  And to actually hear them scream out their praises to the Goddess of Life was...so humbling.

 

And from all the festivals Frisk attended, the humans praised and thank Toriel for everything she did for them.  They thanked her for her protection, her gift of life, her constant magic that kept the crops healthy and the flowers in bloom all year around.   

 

They even thanked her for the sun, the moon, and the stars and whenever Frisk saw all those shiny and brilliant creations in the sky, she thanked  **_her_ ** GENTLE MOTHER as well.

 

And no matter how many times Frisk saw the moon, the many stars and the sun, it never stopped amazing her that her own mother was the creator of it all.  And even now as the first rays of sunlight began to spread themselves slowly over the dark human land, telling the demi-goddess her curfew was about up, Frisk lingered in the human world for just a few seconds longer staring up at it with wide eyes, ingraining the final images of this year’s visit into her mind and heart until she could return for next year’s celebrations.     

 

Frisk sighed softly as the earth almost seemed to give birth to the sun. 

 

The sunrise was beautiful.   **_Utterly and completely beautiful._ **

 

Not to say the Realm of the Gods and Goddess wasn’t a beautiful place but night and day occurred there simply by the use of magic.  There was no sun nor stars nor clouds.  The sky was bright blue and the land was filled with light by some invisible force for half of the day.  The other half of the day was pitch black.  No stars, no moon no sunrises, no sunsets, no sun.   The sky never slowly transformed from night to day or day to night like the human’s sky did, so there were no golden colors when the sun came up and no dark purple clouds when the sun came down.  It was either a perfect blue sky or a perfect black sky.  

 

**_Boring._ **

 

At least in Frisk’s opinion.  She knew humans saw Mount Ebbot as this paradise but she was more than sure they would change their tune if they went a week without seeing a sunrise or sunset.

 

With a final sigh and trying to ignore the heaviness that was starting to grow in her chest, Frisk gave one more wave, only this time to the entire Human Realm.

 

**_I’ll be back next year,_ ** she thought and while that thought was supposed to console that rare feeling of sadness in the pit of her stomach, it only deepened it.  She had to wait another year before she could come back.  She had to wait a whole year before she could see the stars, the moon, talk to new people or play with the other children again.  She had to wait another year before she could see the sunrise of sunset.

 

Frisk wondered how mama could do it.  Granted mama had her ways of watching over the humans without even entering the Human Realm, but nothing compared to actually entering it.  Nothing compared seeing it in person.  

 

But mama was waiting and so channeling the rest of her magic, Frisk closed her eyes and crossed the barrier and when she opened them again she was in the Realm of the Gods and Goddesses.  And the sun wasn’t rising and the sky wasn’t that beautiful golden color that took Frisk’s breath away just a few seconds ago.  The sky was a bright blue and there was not a cloud nor a sun in the sky.

 

**_Boring._ **

 

“Oh my child you are back!”

 

Frisk smiled tiredly and waved to Toriel, the Goddess of all Life.  The giant goat goddess waved back and walked to Frisk and as she came closer, Frisk’s smile vanished.  The goat lady had a very...nervous look on her face and for one second Frisk was actually worried she stayed out too late and upset mama.  

 

“Hello Mama.  I’m sorry I stayed out a little later than usual but-” Frisk began only to be interrupted when mama bleated out a strained laugh that matched her worried look.

 

“I know you must have a lot of stories to tell me, my child, but first I must discuss something very important with you.”

 

The seriousness of her tone sent an unfamiliar and unpleasant chill down Frisk’s spine.  Her newly developed concern for whatever was upsetting mama overriding her small disappointment, but mama must have seen the look of fear in Frisk’s face because the goat goddess’ serious expression softened and one of her more reassuring and sweet smiles came over her face.

 

She placed a giant, but soft and gentle hand on Frisk’s naked shoulder and ushered her into the small cottage.

 

“It is actually….good news,” mama said but the way she said “good” didn’t exactly reassure Frisk that it was indeed “good news”.  Mama sounded like she just swallowed something nasty when she said that word but Frisk didn’t interrupt as she sat down at the table.  

 

Mama sat down as well after getting two cups filled with warm Snail Juice (Frisk held in a grimace.  The stuff tasted disgusting and slimy but it did help rejuvenate her magic quickly and plus when mama said drink it or eat something, Frisk did it.  The goat goddess nodded towards Frisk’s large cup.

 

“Drink up,” she ordered and drank her own Snail Juice down in one gulp.  Frisk knew as a goddess, her mother didn’t have to drink or eat anything to help revive her endless supply of magic.  She drank it simply because she knew Frisk didn’t like the stuff and the gesture would have been sweet and comforting if not for the fact that Frisk knew the Goddess loved the taste of Snails.  

 

But all the same, Frisk bit the corner of her lip thinking of all the sweets she ate during the celebration and how that wonderful sugary aftertaste that still lingered in her mouth would be ruined as soon as the gooey liquid entered her mouth.  But with mama watching her, Frisk took a deep breath and sipped some of the Snail Juice into her mouth.  The taste was salty and it honestly felt like Frisk was drinking pure snot, but before she could linger on that thought for too long and throw back up the terrible drink, Frisk swallowed, feeling just a pitch of her strength and magic return to her.  

 

**_All_ ** of her magic would return as soon as she finished it but that was gonna take awhile.  Frisk usually nursed her drink for hours even with mama’s constant urging just to get it all down in one swallow.  

 

**_Yuck._ **

 

“While you were in the Human Realm I had a visitor from the top of Mount Ebbot.”

 

Frisk froze.  “The top of-”

 

The goat goddess nodded.  “Yes, my child.  A God came to visit me.”

 

A surge of panic went through Frisk’s SOUL as the horror stories of what the Gods and Goddesses did to the humans during the war went through her mind.  

 

While she kept the graphic details of those stories as vague as possible (she didn’t have to say it out loud for Frisk to know that even thinking about those memories upset the goddess) she did tell Frisk that many years ago the Gods and the Goddesses grew disgusted with the way the humans were living and tried wipe them all out.  

 

Why the Gods and Goddesses began to hate humanity, mama never told her except to say there was no justified reason for the war, but in the end it didn’t matter why because thankfully the humans won the war.  They won despite the fact the odds were stacked against them and while many humans lost their lives in brutal and merciless ways to the Gods and Goddesses, they never stopped fighting and with that will to live, that  **_determination_ ** , along with the Goat Goddess’ gift of life and her magic helped them get the upper hand in war.  

 

Since then as far back as Frisk could remember mama hasn’t spoken or received any visitors from any of the other Gods and Goddesses that lived up on top the mountain until now that is.  So why after so many years would a God-

 

Frisk gasped as realization hit her.  

 

“Mama, they didn’t try to hurt you did-”

 

Mama’s soft brown eyes widened as the goat goddess quickly shook her head, trying to calm the demi-goddess down.

 

“No no no, my child nothing like that.  In fact the God who visited me today was an...he  **_is_ ** an old friend I’ve forgotten all about.”  

 

Frisk blinked.  A friend?   Frisk frowned thoughtfully as the panic began to simmer down.  Since the Goddess of Life wasn’t in a rageful panic herself then this God really must have been a friend and whatever happened between them really was good news despite the odd expression on her mother’s face

 

**_But still this is a little strange,_ ** Frisk thought.   **_Mama having a friend from Mount Ebott.  She forbid me from even climbing it._ **

 

Mama told her that if she ever entered their territory, the human-killing Gods and Goddesses would destroy her in an instant for being half human herself and the threat was enough to keep the little demi-goddess away from those golden gates, but that fear didn’t exactly kill that tiny part of her that wanted to get a sneak peek of the constant parties they were throwing.

 

Frisk couldn’t see the parties, but she and mama could certainly hear them going on night and day and while the music was faint enough that Mama wasn’t bothered by it, Frisk couldn’t help but swing her hips every so often to the beats.  The music was so much more different than what she heard the humans play.  It wasn’t better or worse than the humans’, it was just different and very catchy in a new sort of way.  

 

“But mama, I thought you said that all the Gods and Goddesses turned their backs to you-”

 

“I was wrong, my child,” the Goddess of Life quickly said, a small blush tinting her furry cheeks.  “During the war, there were...weaker Gods and Goddesses that did not take a side and many of them chose not to fight because they love humanity like I do.  I had forgotten about those friends and I was fortunate enough that my visitor reminded me of them.”

 

Silence filled the room.  Still frowning Frisk started to drum her fingers along the table thoughtfully as the information sank in and when it did, a huge smile erupted on her face.

Perhaps this could mean a change for the better.  Maybe...

 

“That means you’ll have friends that’ll come and visit you now right?!” Frisk asked excitedly and the thought of having more people to talk to and play with distracted her from seeing the look of deep sorrow and shame on mama’s face.  

 

Maybe if she knew how she looked to the Goddess of Light in that moment, Frisk would have masked her excitement.   But unfortunately she didn’t and so Toriel saw the loneliness and the desperate need for contact with others clearly written on the child’s face.

 

“Well, my friend did invite me to attend a party where I can see and speak with them all-”

 

Frisk squealed, clapping her hands and once again a look of pure shame came over the Goddess’ face.  “A party?!  Oh you have to go, mama!  You barely go anywhere-”

 

The goddess’ blush deepened but she didn’t interrupt Frisk.

 

“- and this will be the perfect chance for you to see your old friends.”

 

Frisk felt her excitement grow when she saw a small but undeniably excited smile begin to grow on her mother’s muzzle as well.

 

“Well, my child that is the plan.  Tomorrow evening is the date of the party.”

 

Frisk looked at her cup of slime and smirked, a tiny and horrible plan forming in her mind.  

 

“That really is good news mama!  You’ll be able to visit your old home and see all your friends and be able to talk to them again and invite them to our home and-” with an exaggerated swing of her arm, Frisk aimed carefully and her swung her arm around in an excited manner, hitting the cup of Snail Juice off the table and onto the floor.  Her smirk widened as she heard her mother gasp.

 

“Frisk!  Please be careful, my child!”

 

Frisk shrugged helplessly, trying to keep the laughter out of her voice.  Maybe her mother was just distracted enough…...  “I’m sorry mama!  I just so excited!   You’ll have to tell me how it all goes when you come back-”

 

“Tell you about it when I come back?”  the Goddess repeated.  Frisk frowned.  

 

“Well didn’t you tell me that the Gods and Goddesses strictly forbid humans from entering their city?”

 

The Snail Juice became a distant priority as Frisk watched a mischievous smirk lite up The Goddess of Life’s face.  A more powerful surge of excitement with only a dash of fear went up Frisk’s spine.

 

**_Oh My...Gods, is she really gonna say what I think she’s gonna say?!_ **

 

There was a one in a billion chance that Toriel was indeed thinking what Frisk thought she was thinking, but all the same the tiny Demi-goddess couldn’t help but hope. 

 

“Yes, that is a rule they have been enforcing for centuries,” her mother bleated quietly before she looked back at Frisk.  Her smirk growing.  “And sometimes rules, stuffy and arrogant rules, need to be broken.  You do know that I will keep you safe, don’t you?  That nobody will hurt you, right?”

 

Frisk’s eyes widened.  She really was going to say it! Frisk briefly felt her exhaustion disappeared.  

 

She nodded her head even though her mother’s protection was a given.  It was something that didn’t need to be said much like many other occurrences that happened in the world.  The day will turn into night, flowers will grow, humans will continue to live and mama will always protect her.  It was practically a law of nature.  

 

And with that in mind, the idea of being the first human (half if Frisk wanted to be technical about it) entering the forbidden city of the Gods and Goddesses without the fear or threat of being harmed had Frisk shaking with giddiness.  

 

**_Even if I’m not welcomed to join them in their celebrations, I’ll finally be able to see how great and fun their parties are._ **

 

“Well then, I believe that as their guest I have a right to bring a guest of my own.  Tomorrow we will go together.”

 

Frisk gave a shout of pleasure earning a small laugh from her mother.

 

“Calm down, my child and don’t think our schedule will change because of this.  You will still have your math and literacy lessons before we can even think about getting ready for that party.  Come,” the goat goddess said, holding her hand out.

 

“Let’s give you a bath and put you to bed” she finished.

 

Smiling, Frisk took her giant hand  and as her mother led her out of the room, Frisk couldn’t help but grin down at the small mess of Snail Juice that was still on the floor, long forgotten by her mother.  She couldn’t help but gloat.

 

Frisk rarely could pull a fast one on her mother but when she did Frisk enjoyed the small victories to the fullest.  

 

***************************************************************************************************

“Where’s Wingdings?”  Asgore asked the two female goddesses, who both looked at each other before the one-eyed, red-haired fish Goddess stepped forward and grunted in frustration.  

 

“Don’t know.  I gave him the message to be here, ”Undyne, the Goddess of Conflict and Resolution, snorted, the anger and stress on her face clear as day and cracked her knuckles loudly, causing the equally stressed out king to wince at the crude sound.  

 

“It would be just like him to pull this though,” she growled and tightened her hands into fists before she glared in Asgore’s direction but not  **_AT_ ** him.  The other goddess present in Asgore’s  beloved garden, Alphys, the lizard Goddess of Intelligence, whined uneasily at Undyne’s expression. 

 

“Can’t believe we’re making a big deal out of this, treating that traitor like an honored guest. If anything she should have been-”and immediately halted her speech when she saw a rare look of warning  cross over Asgore’s usually gentle and meek face.  

 

“That is enough Undyne.  All of that is in the past now.   You know this.  You said it yourself and you will show the Goddess of Life respect when she comes.  Is that understood?,” The King of the Gods and Goddesses said, his deep voice quite similar to a disappointed father who was on the verge of losing his temper if his child kept acting up.  

 

At his tone, which she never heard until this moment, Undyne’s bluish skin redden a bit and she looked away, nodding her head.  She  hoped she didn’t appear as upset as she felt and once again inwardly cursed the Goddess of Life for indirectly making her life miserable.  Because of her, Asgore practically yelled at her just now.

 

Alphys chose that moment to step between the two larger immortals.  

 

Her tail wagged uneasily as she spoke.

 

“I wouldn’t w-worry ab-about Wingdings, your maj-majesty.  I’ve al-already se-sent ev-everybody instructions o-on how they a-are to be-behave,” Alphys said and offered a crooked smile to Asgore.  The God’s face softened and a grateful smile came over his face.

 

He felt rather silly sending out instructions how to behave at a party but this wasn’t just any party.  This was their chance to regain favor with the humans and he couldn’t afford to have one God or Goddess say something or do something that would insult his ex-wife (which would soon be his wife again, if luck were on his side) and send her into a rage.  

 

“So they all know they must act as though Toriel’s attendance is nothing to be gawk at?  They understand to proceed and pretend as though this party were just like every one of our other parties?”

 

With a more confident smile on her face, Alphys nodded her head, her tail now swinging more from excitement than nervousness.  She too longed for the days when she could offer her help and ideas to the humans.  She had so many of them to share and seeing her inventions uselessly lying around her home was killing her on the inside and she knew that Undyne felt the same way.

 

Despite the fact that Undyne barely ever showed it,  the fish goddess wanted once again to be the name that the humans cried out for in their times of need.  All the Gods and Goddesses wanted to leave so everybody was determined (Alphys could laugh at the irony of that statement)to make sure everything was perfect for tonight’s celebration.  

 

Even the almost always silent Wingdings Gaster, the God of Science,  wanted to share his mind with the humans, so him not being at this private meeting wasn’t what was making Alphys so nervous.  Neither was Undyne’s sour attitude.  Alphys knew from centuries of spending time with the incredible warrior that Undyne’s words were nothing more than a byproduct of her own stress and excitement for this upcoming celebration.  And unfortunately Undyne tended to say very....antagonizing statements when she was in a frenzy.  

 

No, the one thing that was bothering her was the reason why Asgore called this last minute private meeting in his flower garden.

 

“Have you two heard any news of Sans coming?”

 

Alphys quickly shook her head.  “N-No.  P-Papyrus se-sent me a m-message t-telling me he will b-be in attendace, b-but didn’t mention Sans.”

 

A look of relief came over Asgore’s face and when he looked at Undyne and saw the hurt look that was still on her face, his expression softened even more as a tiny bit of guilt hit him.

 

“What about you, Undyne?  Have you heard anything from Papyrus?”

 

His more kindly tone had an immediate effect on Undyne much to his delight.  The warrior Goddess straightened up and gave him a wide smile, revealing her sharp piranha-like teeth.  

 

“During my training session with Papyrus today he told me that Sans probably will not be attending the party.  He mentioned that Sans had stayed up the entire night taking care of some rowdy Human SOULS and would most likely be sleeping the entire day away.”

 

Asgore visibly sighed in relief this time and clapped Undyne on the shoulder.  The Goddess’ hurt feelings were now completely forgotten  It always amazed Asgore how sensitive the fighting Goddess could be.

 

“You know that I have nothing against Sans but I think it would be best if he stayed away from this party.  Toriel and he, they...”Asgore rubbed his eyes.  “They...well you know what happened.”

 

Alphys frowned while Undyne’s wide smile turned into a sneer.

 

“That God killed more humans than I did.  You know if he was at this party he’d spent his time teasing and taunting Toriel about the war.” and with that statement, Undyne’s sneer began to lose it’s cockiness and a more panicked expression came over her face.  Asgore raised an eyebrow while Alphys watched as the fish Goddess’ speech began to pick up a little speed. 

 

“And then there goes our chances with Toriel and we’re gonna be stuck in this place rebreathing each other’s air for all eternity and I’ll never see two humans fist-fight again and you know that grinning bastard would ruin our only hope of re-entering the human realm because he and his brother can already enter their world without consequences and-”

 

“Undyne, p-please relax,” Alphys squeaked, cutting Undyne’s rant short and  grabbing her slimey arm.  The fish Goddess blinked and looked down at her friend.  

 

“All w-we have to do is g-give her a g-great t-time at this p-party and w-we’ll g-go f-from th-there.  Easy, r-right?”  she prompted and looked towards Asgore for help.  Asgore quickly nodded his head.

 

“Exactly, Undyne.  We just have to show her we hold nohard feelings towards her or the humans,” Asgore followed in a soothing voice.

 

After a few seconds, Undyne did relax.  “Alright.  I think with enough liquor we can finally make peace with her”

 

All three immortals laughed at the terrible joke before Asgore cleared his throat.

 

“Well, it’s getting closer until the celebration begins and I must be getting ready as I’m sure you two must want to do as well.  Thank you both for meeting me here.”

 

He turned to Alphys, his eyes shining with hope at what the future might hold for his people.  

 

“Please express my deepest thanks to Mettaton for preparing the Great Hall if you see him before I do.”

 

Asgore truly was grateful to the gray God who offered to set up the Great Hall for the party.  With all the excitement and anxiety building in Asgore from the knowledge that SHE would finally be returning home to him, Asgore knew he would barely be able to find his best outfit (a golden toga with a purple cape, an outfit that outlined his best features if he did say so himself) let alone make sure everything was ready for the party.  

 

“Ye-yes, sire,” Alphys said, both Goddesses bowing as the goat God left the garden.  As soon as he left a snarl came over Undyne’s face.

 

“I am not playing dress up for Toriel.  Not only am I not taking a bath, I’m also gonna wear this to the party,” she hissed and held her arms wide open to fully reveal her ripped gray toga she wore during her “training” sessions with Papyrus this morning.  Food was spattered everywhere on the material and Alphys could see sweat stains encrusted on the fabric under Undyne’s right arm.  She smelled like burnt noodles and her bright red hair was in a messy ponytail.

 

And once she was sure Alphys got a good look at her outfit she crossed her arms smugly and grinned cockily.  “Not only am I not going to impress her, but I’m going to completely ignore her during the entire party.  Whatever she does, it won’t be my problem.  I will not care what she does.  It will not be my business.”

 

Alphys hummed thoughtfully.  “We-well, if y-you’re su-sure, I have t-to g-get ready.  I’ll s-see you a-at the party.”

 

Alphys was only halfway out of the garden before she heard Undyne’s quick footsteps behind her.  A second later the Fish Goddess was walking beside her.  Alphys smirked to herself.

 

“You know on second thought maybe I could use a bath.  I do smell pretty bad and having the Goddess of Life look at me as though I let myself go over the years would be unacceptable.”

 

Alphys nodded.  “You can u-se my b-b-bathtub.”

 

“Thank you…” there was a brief pause.  “And I do have a fairly new tunic I’ve been wanting to wear.  I think now would be a good time to try it on.”

“I think you’ll look v-v-very p-p-pretty in that,” Alphys said without even thinking about it but as soon as the statement left her, a deep blush came over her face.  She put her head down not looking up to see that Undyne’s face was red as well and unaware how much of an impact her statement had on the fish warrior.

 

And now that she knew Alphys thought she would look attractive in the tunic Undyne now made it her mission to impress the lizard even more and so when the next idea came into her head, she blurted it out.

 

“And you know what would match that tunic?  Remember how you weaved those green flowers in my hair a few years back and you said I looked really good with them?  Can you do that again?”

 

Still blushing, Alphys was only done with a second nod of her head before the Warrior Goddess picked her up and flung her over her mighty shoulder.

 

“Well come on then!  Time is being wasted and we have only a limited amount of it before the party gets started!”  

 

And with that, the Goddess of Conflict and Resolution carried the squeaking Goddess of Intelligence back to the lizard’s home.

***********************************************************************************************

“Now darlings, I know you’re worried about Toriel coming here, but remember she is an old friend so play for her the exact same way you play for us every night.  You two shouldn’t be nervous.  You two are far too talented for that silliness,” Mettaton gently cooed at Shyren and Napstablook.  

 

The God and Goddess of Music responded in different ways.  The watery mermaid, Shyren, quickly turned her head away from Mettaton without responding while the ghostly God Napstablook disappeared.  Mettaton sighed.  It really was a lot of unfair pressure to put on these two but there was nothing he could do about it.

 

“Well fine then.  Be nervous if you want, but I know you won’t disappoint me.  You never do. You two always sound so amazing and with me up there performing with you, I think Toriel will be shouting for encore after encore.”

 

To his relief, Napstablook reappeared and Shyren slowly turned her head back to face the God of Art.  Mettaton smiled.  

 

“And not only will you two be great, but you both look absolutely beautiful,” he praised.

 

Shyren didn’t answer but her blush told Mettaton she was flattered and even a small rare smile perked up his cousin’s lips.  “I am wearing a…” the ghostly God paused considering his words carefully,  “...new hat,” he finished.

 

“And you look positively handsome, cousin.”

 

Napstablook’s small smile grew a bit.  “You look very...um….nice yourself.”

 

Mettaton winked at him and twirled around to fully show off his outfit.  He wore a short pink toga, similar to the one he wore when he visited Toriel, but this one had bits of golden pieces embroidered in it.  

 

“What?  This old thing?  I’ve had it for centuries, darling.  I simply decided that this was the perfect time to wear it.”

 

Napstablook didn’t respond and Mettaton thought this was as good as any time to check up on how the other Gods and Goddesses were doing on their assigned tasks. 

 

“Well until the party starts, I want you two to practice,” Mettaton ordered in a stern mocking voice that made Shyren giggle and after blowing a kiss to them both, Mettaton turned around and smiled fondly as he heard his cousin’s harp strings being plucked as Shyren’s beautiful voice rang out.

 

Knowing he averted one disaster, Mettaton positioned himself in the very middle of the huge golden Great Hall where the Gods and Goddesses always threw their parties and surveyed the room.  All the Gods and Goddesses who were ordered by Asgore to decorate and provide food and drinks for the party were hustling all around the room.  

 

The most beautiful of flowers were put in ruby vases and placed in every corner of the gigantic room courtesy of Asgore. They smelled wonderful and gave the room a fresh welcoming scent.

 

**_Colors and deodorant for the party?  Check,_ ** Mettaton thought and turned his attention towards the spider goddess of Wealth and Prosperity, Muffet.

 

The pretty Goddess was wearing a dark bergen tunic and much to Mettaton’s surprise she had already filled three tables full of her most delicious tasting sweets, pastries, and teas.  But more than that, she was also taking it upon herself to direct her little spider children in creating wonderful designs on the ceilings with her silvery spider-webs.  She must have felt Mettaton’s eyes on her because she turned around and offered him a fanged smile.

 

**_Sweets and child-friendly drinks?  Check._ **

 

Mettaton smiled back, hoping she could see his smaller but much prettier fangs before he turned his attention to another God.  

 

Grillby, the God of  Celebration and Festivals was wearing a very traditional white toga, and much like Muffet, had already set up five tables with his very best liquor and drinks.  He stood stoically by his table, most likely waiting to serve the first God or Goddess that came up to him.  

 

It always amused Mettaton that the God of Celebration was all work and no play.  The fire God hardly ever cracked a smile but in this particular instance he was happy Grillby took his job seriously.  

 

**_Liquor?  Check._ **

 

And finally the cooked food area.  The Merchant Gods’ area.   Looking over at the seventeen tables where the food was supposed to be, Mettaton’s smile grew into a dark smirk.  One of the four Mechant Gods, Whisk, an adorably twitchy and nervous cat by nature, was quickly placing all the cooked meats on his tables like his life depended on it.  

 

However a few tables down, the other three immortals Merchants were taking their time, delicately placing their specialty foods on their designated tables.  The bunny Goddess Binkie was humming as she placed her legendary Cinnamon Bunnies in a cute bunny design on her table.  Her sweets were very different from Muffet as it was rumored that many years ago when Toriel was still married to Asgore, the two Goddesses baked many things together and one of the things the created was Binkie’s always popular Cinnamon Bunnies.

 

Mettaton thought it was rather brilliant of the Merchant Goddess to make dozens of them.  Perhaps that would help Toriel remember all the friends she used to have and encourage her to finally make peace between herself and the other immortals.

 

Gerson, another Merchant God and the oldest God known in the universe, was sitting down directing the final Merchant God, Tops, a blue bunny, on where to put his items on the table.  Mettaton winced at the items that lined the old turtle’s table.  

 

They were really medicine items as opposed to edible things to eat, but to be fair, these parties did get out of hand sometimes and there were moments when one God accidentally harmed another God.  Undyne was a dangerous dance partner and more than once an immortal was seen hobbling over to Gerson to receive one of his quick healing salty teas.  

 

Seeing that Tops was busy at the moment, Mettaton fiddled with  his already perfectly made hair and made his way over to his favorite lesser God of all time.  

 

The cat God was too busy rearranging the plates to notice Mettaton, which was exactly how the gray god liked it.  Keeping his smirk in place, the God of Art leaned seductively on the table and offered his most wicked smile to the cat.  

 

“Hello darling,” he cooed in his best condescendingly flirty voice and to his amusement the young Cat God froze up, startled and dropped a plate of food.  It shattered to the ground.  Mettaton’s smirk grew.

 

“Oh deary quite the butterfingers today, aren’t we?” he said in a sing-song voice.  Whisk started to shake.  He always acted even more twitchy and nervous whenever Metatton was around, so Mettaton always made it a point to be near the nervous cat as much as possible.  Of course that was only when the gray God wasn’t working on some new song with Napstablook or writing his latest play.  

 

He wasn’t desperate for the cat’s attention or anything that ridiculous.  He just loved the way Whisk responded to everything he said and did.  It was one of the main reasons why the gray God was so fond of the otherwise pathetic cat.  Whisk knew how to act when he saw a superior being and it was no secret that Whisk was one of Mettaton’s biggest fans.  

 

The Cat God was always seated in the front row of every one of Mettaton’s plays or concerts and the loudest person to clap.  It really was endearing but sad at the same time.  Being the God of Art, Mettaton could sense when somebody desired to create or be a part of the art world and Whisk’s desires shined out to the gray God like a bright light.  It was a shame the poor thing was so talentless.  

 

Really should stick to cooking food and speaking of cooking food...with a mean smirk, Mettaton grabbed Whisk’s newest food, a hamburger, Mettaton believed it was called and took a slow sensual bite out of it, and chewed it slowly never breaking eye-contact with Whisk.  The cat watched him with an open mouth as the gray god licked his lips clean. 

 

“Hmmm...this is delicious, darling,” Mettaton said in a low breathy voice.  Whisk’s pointy ears perked up at the rare compliment.  Normally the God of Art wasn’t so...generous with his kind words when it came to the Cat God.

 

“Really?”  

 

Mettaton nodded before he hooked a finger into Whisk’s grease stained red tunic.  He wondered how worked up he could get the cat.

 

“Of course the same can’t be said for your style.  You look absolutely disgusting darling, but if you come back to my place,” at this Mettaton gently pitched the cat’s ear between his thumb and index finger and gently rubbed the soft furred body part.  He grinned as the cat purred. 

 

“I think I have something that might make you more...pleasing to the eye-”

 

“Hello Mettaton,” a voice behind him said and with an annoyed grunt the God of Art turned around to face the person who interrupted him.  Top was smiling brightly at Mettaton.

 

“Do you think you sample my latest Nice Cream flavor?  It’s called the **_Blueberry Lucky Rabbit Foot Nut Kick_ ** .”  

 

Still irritated at being interrupted but flattered as well, Mettaton nodded.  “I suppose I can-”

 

Pure pain rushed in his lower area as Tops delivered a healthy and hard kick to Mettaton’s groin.  With a silent cry of pain, Mettaton fell down to his knees, breathing heavily, holding his injured area.   

 

“Stay away from my lover, Mettaton,” Tops hissed at the fallen God.

 

And just to add insult to injury, as Mettaton was struggling to get up, he heard Gerson raspy laughter.  

 

“Binkie dear, do you mind giving that poor fellow a cup of my Saltwater Tea.  It looks like he needs it.”

 

**************************************************************************************************

 

The Golden Gates opened without a problem, and even though she knew they would, there was a tiny part of Toriel that hoped that after years of being away from the other immortals, the Gate would no longer recognize her status as a Goddess and refuse to open as they were designed to do with all beings who did not have a God’s SOUL.  And if the Gates refused to open, then then Toriel would have no choice but to return Frisk and herself to their cottage. 

 

Of course the Gate did open and patiently waited for the Goddess of Life to enter before it closed again.

 

**_But Toriel didn’t enter._ **

 

Instead she stood in the entrance way, holding Frisk’s hand and even when the little demi-goddess started to tap her foot impatiently, Toriel still didn’t take the step needed to enter the place that had been her home since the beginning of time.  

 

She didn’t know whether or not she was surprised that everything looked the same.  The beautiful homes were still in the same spots as they were when she left and she was absolutely positive that all the residents still lived in the same homes.   In fact, Toriel was certain if she just turned her head to the left she would see the much larger cottage she once shared with her husband all those years ago.  And she forced herself not to look at it and instead focused on the place where the party was being held:  The Great Hall.

 

The Great Hall still stood tall and proud and even with the huge silvery doors closed, she could still heard her fellow Gods’ and Goddesses’  laughter echoing through the walls.  And of course there was the music.  It was much louder now and a small jerk of her hand made Toriel look down at her companion and despite the growing uneasiness of how everything still seemed very much the same as when she left it she couldn’t help but smile at what she saw her child doing.

 

Frisk was swaying to the music with a sort of eager impatience.  Toriel took the second to admire how pretty her child looked and truth be told, the goddess may have gone a little overboard with preparing Frisk but Toriel was not going to have any God or Goddess say that her child was a ratty little thing.  And ratty Frisk was not.

 

The little demi-goddess was wearing a brand new pink and blue tunic that fit her perfectly.  Her brown hair had been scrubbed clean until it shined and combed until not one single strain was out of place.  And to add just a touch of elegance, Toriel lovingly weaved bright white pearls into Frisk’s hair before she finished up it up completely by giving Frisk her golden flower crown...just in case.  

 

And Toriel felt proud.  The child looked so very pretty as opposed to her.

 

The Goddess of Life chose to wear her simple purple tunic.  She was going to the party to see her old friends, not impress anybody.  

 

“Well, my child….are you ready?”  She asked even though she didn’t feel ready herself.  With a huge smile, the child nodded and was the first one out of the two to take the first step into the golden city.   She tugged Toriel’s hand impatiently.

 

“Come on mama!” She said happily.  Toriel took a deep breath and followed her daughter’s lead, keeping her head down so she wouldn’t see anymore the city than she had to.  Too many happy memories that now seemed to have a bitter taste to them.

 

Once they reached the Great Hall, Frisk halted her skipping and looked at Toriel. Her eyes were shining with excitement but Toriel was able to see the fear in them as well.  Toriel kneeled down to Frisk’s level and straightened up her flowery crown.

 

“Now remember to stay close to me while we are here.  Do you understand, my child?”

 

Frisk nodded her head quickly.  Toriel smiled, feeling the excitement build in her as well.

 

“Okay, let’s have some fun and see some old friends again.”

 

With that, Toriel stood in front of Frisk and pushed opened the doors of the Great Hall.  The laughter and music hit her instantly and to her surprise the other Gods and Goddesses barely acknowledged her entrance.  They just continued to laugh and carry on and dance as though Toriel was just a regular Goddess that always attended the parties instead of the Goddess who made them lose the war.  

 

**_Do they not recognize me anymore or did they simply not notice me coming in_ ** , Toriel thought and before she could think any longer about that Frisk jumped out from behind her, making her appearance known.

 

All the music, conversations and laughter instantly stopped as every God and Goddess turned to stare at Frisk.  In response Frisk happily waved to all of them.  

 

**_So they did notice me coming in.  They just pretended not to._ **

 

The shock and disbelief on every single immortal’s face was so expressive and so comical that Toriell couldn’t help but laugh, her voice echoing throughout the Great Hall.

 

And finally after what seemed like a century of silence, a young voice in the crowd of stunned Gods and Goddesses spoke.  Toriel scanned the crowd and found the speaker.  He was a young armless God, probably born after Toriel left the city.  His eyes were wide and he was staring at Frisk like she was some...fantasy creature.  

 

“Yo!  Whoa is that a human?” he asked and when nobody answered Frisk let go of her mother’s hand and gave the little God a small bow.

 

“Just half.”

******************************************************************************************************

Undyne growled lowly.  “I can’t believe Toriel actually brought a human here.”

 

Alphys made a low whining noise in her throat.  “Undyne, p-please-”

 

“I’ll teach them both a lesson!” Undyne vowed and started to make her way over to the “half’ human and that traitorous Goddess of Life, Toriel.  

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This party is gonna be crazy!!


	3. Showing Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always me and MrWar1 thank you for your support and comments and we'll get to responding to them soon! Sorry about that^^

Everyone was too shocked and stunned staring at Toriel and her…”guest” to notice Undyne slowly and methodically making her way towards the Goddess of Life.  Alphys’ eyes widened with every step the fish warrior took.   Her shoulders were hunched over, her large hands were in powerful fists and Alphys could literally hear Undyne grinding her teeth.

 

Saying she was furious was an understatement.  

 

Thankfully the fish Goddess had to make her way through the crowded dance area where a majority of the Gods and Goddesses were gathered, many of them still frozen in their dancing positions and judging by the relaxed and smug look on Toriel’s face, it was easy to see that she didn’t see the enraged Goddess of Conflict and Resolution coming at her.  

 

With a nervous swish of her tail, Alphys followed after Undyne, nearly tripping over her own black and white polka dot tunic, waddling as fast as she could to stop her friend before Toriel noticed her.   

 

**_Why did you have to break our oldest rule and bring a human into our city, Toriel,_ ** Alphys internally asked the Goddess of Life, but as soon as the question was asked another question popped into the lizard goddess’ mind.   **_Why did we assume she WOULDN’T bring her human with her?_ **

 

Now looking back at all their discussions on how they were win Toriel’s favor back, she, Asgore, Undyne, and Wingdings never once brought up the idea of what they would do if Toriel took her human into their city.   In fact they never even brought up Toriel’s human in any of their discussions.   

 

But since Toriel did bring her little demi-goddess, the Gods and Goddesses had two ways to ACT and the correct way was obvious enough: **_don’t say a damn thing.  Welcome the human without starting a fight._ **  Unfortunately when Undyne was angry her thinking process was often muddled and her actions became very impulsive.   

 

And more unfortunately, at least for Undyne, starting a fight with the Goddess of Life wasn’t exactly smart.  As the Goddess of Intelligence, Alphys could say that with certainty.  

 

Undyne was strong, but Toriel was stronger and it was no secret to the other Gods and Goddesses who had spied on her activities throughout the years, that Toriel’s little half human demi-goddess creation was the most precious she had.  She treated the little thing like it was her child.  And what do most reasonable people do when the most precious thing they have is being threatened?  They fight to protect it and Toriel…

 

...Toriel was not afraid to use those fireballs of hers.  Everybody learned that little fun fact when Asgore came rushing into the city after his failed attempt to win his ex-wife back, beard smothering, clothes burnt.  

 

Alphys swallowed and chewed her claws, shaking.  She could practically already smell cooked fish and with that imaginary scent lingering in her nostrils, the lizard goddess quickened her pace until she was only a few feet away from Undyne, and  judging by the way the warrior goddess’ shapely and muscular legs (Gods what a pair of legs!) were twitching,  Alphys knew she was going to bolt through the large crowd to get to the human faster.  

 

Closing her eyes and summoning her courage Alphys made a quick decision.  

 

Bending herself into a crouch, Alphys took a deep breath and jumped at Undyne’s back, wrapping her legs around the warrior’s tone waist and latching her arms around Undyne’s powerful shoulders.  

 

If this situation weren’t so dire, Alphys would have been blushing as red as a rose.  She felt Undyne’s body tense up but before the fish warrior could disrupt the shocked silence with a roar of rage, Alphys quickly leaned forward, until her lips touched Undyne’s slimy ear.  

 

“P-please r-relax U-Undyne.  What’s d-d-done is done,” she whispered.  A few of the other Gods and Goddesses near the two must have realized what Undyne was trying to attempt because they quickly made a circle around the pair of Goddesses to hide Undyne from Toriel’s line of vision.  

 

And perhaps it was those Gods and Goddesses’ subtle movements that broke the frozen spell over the party because just as quick as everything had come to a screeching halt minutes earlier, music and laughter erupted into the GREAT HALL once again, half finished conversations resumed and the dancing couples started to dance and twirl without missing a beat, blocking Undyne’s view of the human even more.

 

The Gods and Goddesses who had formed a circle around Undyne and Alphys moved away from the two when they received a nod from the Goddess of Intelligence.  The whole room became so animated with movement and the only two who weren’t moving were Undyne and Alphys.  If one discluded Undyne’s heavy breathing that is.  Alphys almost expected the fish warrior to throw her off.

 

“I can tolerate a lot of things Alphys, but having her bring that that that...HALF-BREED into our city-”

 

“W-who is th-that?” Alphys interrupted Undyne, knowing if she let the fish warrior linger in her thoughts for too long something bad was going to happen.  

 

Undyne looked towards the area Alphys was pointing at and made a sound of disgust.  The blobish God was standing awkwardly by itself, blowing spit bubbles with its mouth but when he noticed Undyne staring at him, his weird mouth curled up and he gave a small wave with his stick arms.

 

“...Jerry,” Undyne muttered, the disdain in her voice as clear as day as she slowly returned the wave.

 

“H-how do y-you know that’s his name?” Alphys pressed.

 

Undyne snorted.  “Because I spent three days talking to him about his life.”

 

“Why di-did you do that?”

 

Alphys cautiously slide down the tall warrior’s back hoping Undyne wouldn’t rush off again.  Luckily all the Fish Goddess did was turn around and cross her arms.  She was still angry but at least she was listening.  Which was good.  Very good.  

 

“Because I was bored!  I would never talk to that weirdo if I had other things to do or if you hadn’t been busy with your work those days!  You know he scratches himself until he gets scabs and then eats those scabs?  What’s wrong with that guy?”

 

Almost gagging at the visual image but unable to smother her guilt that she was indirectly insulting the God of Lonely Travelers, Alphys continued.

 

“If th-this do-doesn’t work then we're s-stuck here for-forever and you’ll be t-talking t-to Jerry for th-the r-rest of y-your life!”

 

Silence greeted her.  Undyne’s anger was still frozen on her face but to Alphys’ relief it was no longer an active emotion.  And after a few more...cautious moment's silence, Undyne’s mask of anger melted and she looked at Jerry again.  She shuddered.  

 

“I’m gonna be watching them both like a hawk,” she hissed.  Alphys’ relief slightly faltered.  “If that human so much as says a disrespectful word against any of us-”

 

“ But I t-t-thought you said you were g-gonna c-c-completely ignore them d-d-during the party,”  Alphys timidly reminded her.  She wasn’t sure how Toriel would react to Undyne’s constant staring and open sneers but it was a chance they really didn’t need to take.  

 

Undyne’s eyes narrowed as she scanned the crowds of quick moving Gods and Goddesses, most likely searching for the Goddess of Life who was no longer in the spot Undyne first saw her in.  

 

“I said I would ignore Toriel.  The human changes the game up,” she growled and based on her victorious smile, Alphys knew Undyne found the pair.  Following her glare, Alphys was able to find Toriel and her human at Binkie’s table.  The human was standing very close to her, staring with wide eyes in all directions.  

 

Alphys took a second to do the same thing.   **_Wow_ ** , she thought feeling a little bit surprised it took her this long to notice how truly wonderful the GREAT HALL looked.  The HALL hadn’t looked this amazing since….since Toriel left. 

 

“Come on, Alphys.  Will go to Gerson’s table and spy on her from there,” Undyne said, a glint of something wicked in her eyes as she grabbed Alphys’ by the arm and dragged her to the old Turtle’s abandon table.  Of course once Undyne joined the dances there would be a lot of Gods and Goddesses over at the turtle God’s table, treating themselves to his old-time remedies.

 

Gerson was sitting down and offered a withered and aged smile at the two Goddesses when they came his way.  “Goodness me, don’t ya two look so pruty today.”

 

Alphys blushed while Undyne scoffed, her eyes never leaving the smiling human.  They were a good seven feet away from Toriel and the human and Alphys could tell Undyne was straining to hear Toriel’s conversation with Binkie.  

 

“Nevermind that Gerson!  Can you believe Toriel actually brought a human into our city?!”

 

The turtle chuckled.  “Seen a lot in m’day.  Nuthin’ surprises me anymore.”

 

Undyne let out a frustrated growl and continued to watch the human, slowly inching closer and closer to the pair.  Alphys let out another whine and looked at Gerson.

 

The old turtle God knowingly winked at her before he leaned back into his chair and watched the younger Gods and Goddesses dance gracefully.  He was too old to join in the dancing himself but he always seem to enjoy himself whenever he did come to one of the many parties the immortals threw.

 

“I got my eye on you human,” Undyne whispered viciously to herself.  From the way she acted, one would think the human purposely insulted her. 

 

**_He wouldn’t enjoy himself if he were worried his best friend might become fried fish by the end,_ ** Alphys thought but didn’t say anything.  She just watched the fish Goddess watch the little human and kept her legs bent.  

 

….Just in case she had to make a jump for Undyne’s back again.

 

*******************************************************************************************************

 

Asgore felt his SOUL flair up, a blush spreading across his face.  She was here.  After all these years she was actually here!  Yes she broke their oldest rule but that didn’t matter in the slightest and thankfully the other Gods and Goddesses came to the same conclusion.  Granted they weren’t even suppose to react when Toriel came in and while the human caused a slight hiccup in those plans, they recovered from it nicely

 

She still looked so beautiful,  so elegant, so refined.  Asgore felt his paws tremble and took a deep breath.  From where she stood, she couldn’t see him and for that he was grateful.   He didn’t want Toriel to see him like...this.  Hiding behind a vase of Golden Flowers, trembling with love, fear and desire as he watched her interact with Binkie.  

 

Of course, hiding from her sight was all part of his plan.  Well his own  **_personal_ ** plan.  While the main plan was for the Gods and Goddesses to gain back Toriel’s favor so she could put in a good word for them with the humans, Asgore had a more...private agenda.  And it was a full-proof as far as he was concerned.  

 

He was gonna win her back with a speech he had prepared.  And not just any speech, but a full heartfelt speech.  It was one he had been working on ever since he and the others first came up with the party plan.  He spent hours upon hours on his speech, writing and rewriting it, putting every every warm and powerful emotion from his SOUL that he still felt for his beloved ex-wife in written words and once he felt he couldn’t make his emotions any clearer, he began memorizing what he wrote, word by word so he wouldn’t leave out a single thing.   

Of course he wasn’t going to go up to her as soon as she entered and blurt it all out.  The plan was to wait for the right moment to say it.  Asgore knew the best thing to do was to wait until the other Gods and Goddesses broke down her defensive walls and when that happened he would step in and speak his heart and SOUL out.

 

But for now he waited.  Behind a flower vase filled with large Golden Flowers that covered up his entire frame and would watch Toriel until he felt the moment was right.  

He smiled, pleased with himself.  He honestly felt invisible able to see everything without a single person know where he-

 

“Hello, your majesty.”

 

Asgore’s self-satisfied smile vanished as he immediately recognized the voice.  

 

“Hello Jerry.”  

 

**_Please go away Jerry_ ** , Asgore silently begged the lesser God.   **_You’re going to give my hiding spot away!_ **

 

“What are you doing?” Jerry asked, his slow and dragging voice digging brutally in Asgore’s brain and slowly poking at the goat God’s nerves.  Asgore took a calming breath before he answered.

 

“I...I...um...making sure these flowers are…up to my...standards.”  It was a weak lie, but luckily Jerry wasn’t a bright fellow.  

 

“Can I help?”

 

Finally Asgore’s annoyance got the better of him.  “No you can’t help me.  Go enjoy the party!” he hissed, feeling unhappy when Jerry’s eager face fell a little bit.  

 

“Oh…okay.  It was nice talking to you, your majesty.”

 

Jerry started walking away with his head down.  Asgore sighed.  “Jerry, come back here.”

 

Almost instantly Jerry came back, his face completely renewed with balant unintelligent happiness.  

 

“I can’t chat with you at the moment, but…”Asgore made sure Toriel was still at Binkie’s table before he surveyed the GREAT HALL.  He smiled when his eyes landed on Gerson’s table.  Or more specifically who was at Gerson’s table.  

 

The king of the Gods didn’t exactly understand why, but for the last couple of days Undyne had really taken an interest in this odd God.  She would provide the perfect distraction for Jerry.  

 

“Why don’t you grace Undyne with your presence and I’ll join you a little bit later?”

 

With a happy nod Jerry quickly headed for Gerson’s table, making his way through the crowds of dancing Gods and Goddesses.

 

With a smile Asgore started to get back to his task when he felt a cold hand land on his shoulder.  

 

“Nicely done, your majesty,” the chuckling croaky voice of Wingdings said.  

 

Now feeling more than a little annoyed that his hiding spot was clearly not as discreet as he thought it originally was,  Asgore turned to greet the God of Science.  He blinked, surprised that Wingdings was actually dressed up this time.  

 

Wingdings rarely came to these parties and when he did he hardly ever spoke to any of the other guests and he always wore his worn down and ripped tunic.  However, today he looked different.  He wore a long black robe that covered everything but his head and hands.  Asgore raised an eyebrow.  It was his ceremonial black robe.  The robe he always wore when he appeared before the humans.  

 

It was a...strange choice but it beat the God of Science’s usual attire.

 

“You were not at my meeting this morning,” Asgore said.  While he didn’t want to admit it, Asgore felt...disrespected that Wingdings didn’t even send a message telling the three other immortals he wouldn’t be able to attend.  

 

The skeleton God nodded.  “Something came up and it needed my immediate attention.”

 

Asgore waited to hear more of an explanation but Wingdings offered none.  

 

“That is fine.  We solved the problem ourselves,” Asgore said and couldn’t keep the biting tone out of his voice when he spoke.  He hoped Wingdings would hear the hidden message.   **_We solved something without your help._ **

 

However if Wingdings heard it, he didn’t acknowledge it and simply nodded his head again.

 

“Asgore if you are planning to speak with Toriel today, I would highly advise against it.  This is a very delicate situation we are putting ourselves in.”

 

**_You’re talking a lot today,_ ** Asgore thought but didn’t interrupt.  He wasn’t surprised that Wingdings knew about his plan.  In fact, he was sure most of the Gods and Goddesses knew he would try to speak to Toriel before the party was over but they didn’t know about his amazing speech.  

 

“Before you can win her over, we must win her over.  She must welcome us back as a whole group before you can win her love back.  There is a chance you’ll fail,” Asgore flinched at the cold certainty of Wingdings’ voice “and if you fail before we regain her favor there is a good chance your failure will hinder our chances on re-entering the human world.”

 

The God of Science fell silent after his surprisingly long speech and waited for Asgore to respond.  He cracked his knuckles as he waited.

 

Wingdings was right.  And Asgore felt something break in his SOUL when he realized he have to wait longer until he could make things right with Toriel.  He couldn’t jeopardize his people’s desires over his own.  And after a minute, he nodded his head.

 

“I suppose you’re right-”

 

With a wide grin coming over his face, Wingdings nodded his head again and gently ushered the King of Gods out of his hiding spot.

 

“Good.  I glad you see the logic, now you should go before she sees you.”

 

Asgore blinked.  “Go?”

 

“Yes of course.  Remember what happened the last time she saw you?”

 

Asgore shuddered.  How could he forget the look of complete hatred and disgust in her eyes?  And for all the years Asgore knew her, he knew one amazing but frustrating characteristic about her.  She never forgot a single thing that was done for or against her.

 

**_Maybe it would be best that I leave.  At least for right now_ ** , Asgore thought before he made his way to the door.  He chanced one more look at his beloved wife.  Her smile still made him weak to his knees and even with the loud music and voices echoing off the walls of the GREAT HALL, he could clearly hear her laughter over it all.  

 

**_I’ve waited this long, I can wait longer,_ ** Asgore thought hoping the thought would comfort him.  It didn’t.

*************************************************************************************************

It was kind of weird to admit it and Frisk really didn’t know what to expect when she entered the GREAT HALL but aside from how beautifully decorated the building was, the Gods and Goddesses appeared to celebrate the same way as humans did.

 

They danced, they laughed, they kissed each other, they ate, they drank and the children….

 

Frisk looked longingly at immortal children as they laughed and ran around inside the building playing games that Frisk recognized as “tag” or “Red Revor.”   

 

Her mother taught her a lot of things during their morning and afternoon lessons.  She taught Frisk how to read, facts about science and mathematics, but when it came to stories and facts about the Goddesses and Gods, Toriel skipped over those facts.  

 

She didn’t even know that immortals could have children.  How did that even work?  Did Gods and Goddesses start off as babies like humans did?  Like Frisk did?  If that were the case, how slowly did immortals age and when did they stop aging?  From what Frisk saw, all the Gods and Goddesses all appeared to be different ages.  Or were they just brought into the world as they were now?  If that were the case, were these child Gods and Goddesses stuck as children forever?  

 

Later when they were home, Frisk would ask Toriel how that worked but for now all she wanted to do was join them in their fun but every time she made a move to edge away from her mother, the goat goddess would gently grab her shoulder and pull Frisk closer to her.  

 

**_Just stay close to me, my child.  I simply want to meet some old friends and then we’ll be off._ **

 

Her mother’s words echoed in her mind and while Frisk understood her mother meant well and wanted to keep her safe...

 

It was a party!  And you’re supposed to have fun at a party.  And it looked like Toriel was having a good time.  

 

As soon as the Gods and Goddesses resumed their dancing and conversations, Toriel grabbed Frisk’s hand and ushered her to a table that smelled of cinnamon.  The purple bunny who was managing the table seemed startled and scared at first, why was she scared, Frisk had no idea, why would somebody be afraid of her mother,  but with a few kind words and one of mama’s warm smiles, the two of them were laughing and talking.  

 

Toriel introduce the bunny as Binkie and before Frisk could ask Binkie if she could have one of her delicious smelling pastries, Toriel and her began to talk about the old times before Toriel left the city, and while Frisk was interested in listening to what her mother was like before the war, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the colorful movements of watching the Gods and Goddesses dance.  And if she were being honest with herself, Frisk was also fascinated by how they looked too.

 

While every human each had a different and unique look, most of them had the same type of anatomy, but these immortals...there were many different body types.  They had gills, tails, fur, scales, fangs, some were made out of snow, some were made out of fire, some were even made out of goo.  

 

There was even a goat monster like Toriel hiding behind a flower pot, but when Frisk tried to point him out, her words were drowned out by Toriel and Binkie’s laughter.  

 

There was so much to see and unfortunately Frisk was too busy eyeing everything from the immortals, to the three musicians playing and singing their hearts out,  to the delicious food that was making her stomach rumble to enjoying the music to listen to her mother’s past life, but when the amazement of actually being among the Gods and Goddesses wore off and the desire to interact with them grew,  Frisk tuned back to her mother’s conversation to ask if she could play with the other children.  Or move from her spot to explore.  Anything was better than just standing there doing nothing while everybody else was having a fun time.

 

And she didn’t want to be rude so she waited until she could find the perfect moment to express her desires, but unfortunately when one Goddess stopped talking the other one would start and for about half an hour she listened to two ladies discuss recipes.  

 

Frisk started to fidget.  

 

“Well hello there, little one.”

 

Frisk wasn’t even sure the kindly voice was speaking to her, but when she looked up, she was a little surprised to see a bright blue bunny in a yellow tunic smiling down at her. 

 

**_Finally,_ ** Frisk thought, feeling some excitement growing in her.   **_Somebody to talk to._ **

 

Frisk offered her best smile and gave him a little bow.  

 

“Hello!  My name is Frisk and I want to thank you for inviting me to your party.”

 

She heard her mother’s conversation stop and when she felt Toriel’s soft paws gently resting on her small shoulders, she knew she finally had her mother’s attention.

 

The bunny gave a little bow of his own.  “Thank you for coming, dearie.  My name is Tops.”

 

**_Tops?_ **  Frisk smiled at the name.  Was it because of his ears?  Not very original if that were the case but a cute name nonetheless.

 

“It’s nice to see you again, Tops.  How are things?”  Toriel asked and judging by her warm voice, Frisk knew Tops must have been another friend from long again.

 

Tops straightened up and offered his hand to Toriel.  The Goat Goddess blushed a little but placed her hand in his and the blue bunny bowed more elegantly, falling to one knee, his forehead almost resting on Frisk’s head,  pressed his lips to Toriel’s hand.  

 

Frisk watched the graceful and quiet show of respect from Tops to her mother with wide and amazed eyes.  Toriel’s blush deepened as she pulled her hand away.

 

“That wasn’t necessary, Tops,” she said quietly.  The bunny smiled.

 

“It’s nice to see you again, my queen,” he said, his voice brimming with a mixture of love and devotion before he turned his attention back to Frisk.  He bent down to her level.  Frisk’s smile widened.  

 

“Now then my young lady, I’ve been watching you for awhile and I notice you haven’t sampled any of my delicious nice cream yet.  Now if it is alright with your…”Tops looked at Toriel.  Frisk raised an eyebrow at the odd pause.

 

“Mother.  I’m her mother,” Toriel finished and for some odd reason, Tops’ eyes widened with shock.

 

“Mother?” he repeated and Frisk watched as one of his long ears dropped as he stared from Frisk to Toriel.   Frisk looked up at her mother, completely confused on why Tops was acting this way but the only expression on Toriel’s face was an amused smile.

 

**_Better ask her about this too when we get home,_ ** Frisk decided.

 

“Huh...well okay then,” Tops said, resuming his happy smile.  “Well I was just wondering if it would be okay for her to have some of my nice cream.”

 

Toriel chuckled.  “Yes I think she’ll love that.”

 

Without further ado, Tops raced off back to his own table only to come running back holding his strange looking “nice cream” that didn’t even look like food.  Frisk took a step back, her body hitting Toriel’s tummy as she observed the odd treat that Tops was proudly holding out for her to take.

 

The bottom part he was holding onto was a stick.  The upper part that made up a majority of the stick was, at least from what Frisk could see, was chocolate.

 

**_Nice Cream was a stick of chocolate?_ ** Not that Frisk was complaining.  Chocolate was delicious and so she took the stick from him, and frowned.  It felt...cold.  That was odd.  Shrugging and looking at Toriel who nodded encouragingly, Frisk took a bite out of the treat.

 

The first thing that hit her was the coldness.  It felt icy on her teeth but the sudden and unpleasant frostiness was overtaken by what the treat actually tasted like.  Frisk moaned in delight.  

 

She did taste chocolate, but the chocolate was only a thin coating for the real treat.  She didn’t know how to describe it, but the filling was white and creamy and probably one of the best things she had ever tasted in her whole life and when it touched her tongue, the flavor intensified.  

 

She swallowed her bite and grinned wildly at her new favorite thing to eat.  

 

“This is wonderful!” she declared a little too loudly, not realizing she had gained the attention of the other merchant Gods, the pretty spider Goddess who had her own table full of sweets or the fire God who had been giving out drinks the entire time Frisk had been there.  They all turned their heads towards Frisk.  

 

Tops was beaming.

 

“I don’t know what this is but…” Frisk paused as she tried to give him the best compliment she could think of.  “The human realm doesn’t have desserts like this but I can say they would absolutely love your treats!”

 

And before Frisk could take another bite of her dessert, Binkie was suddenly in front of her, holding out a plate with a sweet cinnamon smelling pastry on it.  Upon closer inspection, the pastry was in the shape of the bunny.  It was so cute looking.

 

“If you like his dessert, you’ll love mine, my dear.  They’re called Cinnamon Bunnies.  Your mother and me came up with this recipe together,” Binkie said sweetly and eagerly nudged the plate in front of Frisk.

 

Grinning, Frisk was just about to take the plate when suddenly another God appeared right in front of her, this one was a cat looking immortal who wore a red toga.  He had a plate full of odd foods that looked more like main courses than actual desserts.

 

“Try these, little friend,” the cat said, his hands shaking as he presented his plate to the demi-goddess.  “I came up with these foods all by myself.  This one is called a steak and this one is a hamburger.”

 

The cat gave her a nervous grin.  “I’ve always been curious to know if a human would like my creations.  Let me know what you think.”

 

Frisk grabbed Binkie’s plate and then awkwardly tried to balance the cat’s food on top of that.

 

“Um...my friends,” Toriel began, her voice sounding a little...concerned.  “Perhaps that is enough food for right now-”

 

A sweet round of giggles interrupted Toriel and all the Gods that were currently surrounding Frisk parted to let the spider Goddess through.  She was carrying a small tray full of…donuts with one of her six arms and a cup in another.  

 

“Hellooo, Toriel,” the spider Goddess sang, flashing a smile that revealed a pair of rather sharp teeth. 

 

“Greetings Muffet,” Toriel said, her voice not losing its warmth but getting a bit of an edge to it.   Frisk felt her mother’s hand tighten slightly on her shoulders.   **_This Goddess might not be as good as a friend to mama as the other immortals are._ **

 

“Now I couldn’t help but overhear this little cute creature was sampling our food and I just can’t be left out,” Muffet said sweetly.  “I’m sure you’ll have some room for my yummy treats too, won’t you, my little spiderling?” She asked and batted her five eyes at Frisk.  “And trust me, my little sweet, my spider donuts and cider are simply to DIE for!”

 

Frisk smiled, blushing a little bit at the spider’s words.   Flirting.  Her mother always accused Frisk of being a flirt and Frisk supposed it was true.  After all, she did it all the time to the humans, but she had never had somebody do it to her.  And now as she stared up at the spider Goddess, she understood why so many humans enjoyed it.  The pretty spider’s words actually did make her feel cute even though she knew she wasn’t.  Not when she compared herself to some stunning human women she met during the celebrations.  

**_Time to repay the favor_ ** , Frisk thought.  

 

“You’re a beautiful lady yourself,” Frisk quickly countered.  “The first time I saw your eyes, I almost fell in love.”

 

“FRISK!”  Toriel said but after a few seconds broke out into laughter.  Muffet laid one of her hands over her mouth and let out another stream of giggles.

 

“You are so cute I can just eat you up!” she purred and patted Frisk’s head with another one of her free hands.  “Now since your hands are full, so I’ll just put these up here.”

 

And with a mischievous smile, Muffet carefully placed the tray on top of Frisk’s head.  And Frisk had to stand perfectly still so the tray didn’t fall.  She couldn’t move her head up to see the Gods and Goddesses’ expressions but she was sure she looked silly.  Both hands were filled with food and she was balancing a slightly heavy tray on her head.

 

“She’s got good balance,” she heard Tops chuckle. 

 

“Must be a very graceful girl,” Binkie added, snickering.

 

**_Yep, I look silly,_ ** Frisk thought and leaned a little to the left to keep the tray from falling.

 

“Let’s see what else we can stack on her!” The cat giggled.

 

Frisk tried to shoot him a fake pout, but doubt he could see it  from the way she had to hold her head.

 

“Mama,” she whined when her neck started to feel strained.  Her mother laughed again before taking the tray off her head.

 

“Alright.  Alright! Let’s find a place for you to sit down and-”

“Hello Toriel.”

*******************************************************************************************************

Toriel froze as the croaky voice entered her ears.   **_Wingdings.  The God of Science._ **

 

Toriel began to dig her fingers roughly into the tray she was holding.  Wingdings.  During the war there were four immortals the humans were terrified of seeing in a battle.  Sans, the God of Death who killed more humans than any other immortal.  And then there was Asgore, who slaughtered hundreds of men, women and children.  And then there was Undyne, who led the monster armies into defenseless villages and finally there was Wingdings.  He was only involved in two battles, but the way he killed those humans still haunted Toriel in her sleep.  

 

He had created a sort of...black sludge.  And this black sludge would spread over the battlefields and literally eat all humans that came into contact with it.  It was so horrifically effective that Toriel honestly thought his terrible attack would end the human race, but amazingly there was one human soldier who ran through the sludge despite the fact it was eating her, slowly and painfully.  

 

And yet she managed to make it towards Wingdings,  who had been watching the whole thing in stunned silence, and before the skeleton God could react she sliced his face badly with her sword.  Her victory was short-lived as the sludge completely ate her after her attack, but apparently Wingdings’ battle wound was enough to convince him not to fight anymore.  Toriel never saw him after that but looking at him now, she was pleased to see the large scar that ran from the top of his skull to his lip was still very noticeable.

 

He had some nerve approaching her.  At least Undyne, Asgore and Sans were smart enough to stay away from her.  Trying her best to ignore him, her child was here with her after, she gently nudged Frisk towards Muffet’s table.   She also didn’t want to make her friends any more uncomfortable than they already were.  Gone were their lovely smiles and playful eyes.  They clearly remembered what Wingdings did to the humans.  

 

“Come along, my child,’ she said, hoping Frisk didn’t turn around.  She didn’t even want Wingdings to look at Frisk.  She was afraid the child would get nightmares just by looking into Wingdings’ eyes.  

 

“Thank you for coming to our party,” Wingdings said, unbothered by her cold dismissal and before she could say “get the hell away from me”, the black robed God leaned in closer until she felt his cold lipless mouth on her ear.

 

“I know about the sickness plaguing the human world now.  No doubt a gift from Sans.  I have a cure.”

 

Despite her intense hatred for the God of Science, Toriel halted her walk at his words.  

 

Yes there was a strange unknown disease that was beginning to pop up in the smaller village.  It worked fast and quickly and while it hadn’t killed a lot of humans just yet, Toriel knew that given time, it was going to spread.  And despite the best doctors the humans had and Toriel’s own efforts on finding a cure for this mysterious disease that could infect a human without warning and give them exactly three day of pain before they eventually died, nobody knew how to fight this it.

 

Of course Toriel had her suspicions on who caused the illness.  Sans was not a merciful God of Death.  His brother Papyrus could claim that title easily.  He always  ended the doomed human’s suffering before it got too bad, but Sans was the opposite.  He would prologue a human’s suffering before claiming their SOULS.  There was no doubt in Toriel’s mind that this upcoming and new illness was Sans’ creation.  

 

But at least Sans had a twisted unspoken rule that Toriel figured out early.  Find out what disease I gave the humans, find a cure and I’ll leave them be...for a while.  

 

How she hated Sans and perhaps it was that intense hatred for him that made Wingdings look a little more tolerable at the moment.  

 

“I want to make amends for my crimes against humanity during the war and against you,” he stated, his voice even and calm.   “And even if you don’t forgive me for what I’ve done, at least allow me a chance to help the humans just one more time.”

Toriel gritted her teeth.  Her pride was telling her to walk away, but  the love she had for her creations was telling her to swallow her hatred and see what he had to offer. 

 

And finally after a moment of silence, Toriel nodded her head.  It made her sick to see the skeleton’s smile.

 

“What is the cure?”

 

Wingdings clasped his hands together.  “I can’t explain it here.  It’s at my house.”

 

**_That’s not too far_ ** , Toriel thought before she turned towards Binkie, who,  like the rest of Toriel’s fellow Gods and Goddess, were trying their hardest not to appear as though they were listening in, but were most definitely hearing every word she was saying.  

 

“Binkie can you please watch over Frisk while I take care of something?”

 

Toriel flinched as the skeleton hummed quietly.  “You can bring your beautiful child with-”

 

“No.” 

 

Toriel would rather Frisk be here in the company of her old friends than in the house of a brutal murderer.  Wingdings said nothing further and patiently waited for Toriel to say her momentarily goodbyes.

 

The bunny Goddess nodded.  “Of course I’ll-”

 

“ **_We’ll_ ** ,” Tops quickly added.  “We’ll make sure she stays out of trouble.”

 

Toriel smiled as Frisk frowned.  “I don’t make trouble, mama.”

 

“I know you don’t.”  The Goddess of Life briefly placed a hand on her child’s hair.  

 

“Be good, my child.  I’ll be right back.”

***************************************************************************************************

“So what do you think?” Are they good?”

 

Frisk nodded her head, unable to speak with a mouthful of Whisk’s hamburger, chewed it a few more times, savoring the taste and swallowed it.  The meat was seasoned perfectly and all the ingredients that Frisk never once thought would go with cow meat, namely lettuce and tomatoes, went with it perfectly.

 

It was a little...strange for four Gods and Goddesses to watch her eat, something the humans never did, but if it meant that Frisk could eat all this great food they could stare all they want. 

“It's wonderful,” she praised causing a proud and twitchy smile to perk up the cat’s lips.  

 

“What do you think the other humans would think of that?  Do you think a lot of people would like them?”

 

Without hesitating Frisk nodded her.  “I think these would be a very big hit with them.  You would be a very popular God with them.”

 

Whisk let out a nervous string of laughter.  “Well...I don’t know about that-”

 

Frisk took another bite and pointed to her half eaten burger.  “No, you don’t understand.  This right here.  It’s a work of art,” she declared.

 

Whisk closed his eyes and Frisk watched with delight as a soft purr went up his chest and out his closed mouth.  Tops smiled softly at Frisk before he rubbed the top of Whisk’s head fondly.

 

**_I wonder if they are best friends or a couple_ ** , Frisk thought as the cat leaned into the touch.  She smirked.   **_Definitely a couple._ **

 

“I wouldn’t call myself…”Whisk paused and trembled a little as he spoke the next word,  “an artist-”

 

“I would.  In the human realm, cooks and chefs, the more popular ones at least,  give their foods a unique look to grab somebody’s attention.  They not only have to make their food look appealing, but they also have to be brave enough to try new flavors that most people wouldn’t even think about mixing.  That’s creativity.  That’s being an artist.”

 

The cat God’s purring got even louder.  “I suppose there is an art to it.”

 

Frisk found herself liking Whisk more and more as they talked.  “And you mastered it!” and as she said that, she looked at all four Gods and Goddesses, and smiled widely.  “I think you all would be very popular with the humans.  From all the times I visited the human realm, food, good food always makes friends, and I think you all would have a lot of human friends.  And most definitely would inspire the humans to create new and wonderful food”

 

“Well now,” Binkie grinned, her purple fur slightly red.  “If you like our food that much, then you’re welcomed to it anytime.” she declared  and placed another mouthwatering Cinnamon bunny on Frisk’s empty plate, patting the demi-goddess head.  Whisk nodded still beaming at the idea of being an artist, while Tops mockingly straightened the straps of his tunic in an  arrogant fashion.  

 

At the sight of the large pastry, Frisk’s almost full stomach briefly groaned but Frisk quickly shut it down.  Even though she had only tasted Muffet’s delicious cider in one greedy gulp, she still had her donuts to try.  But with saying that there was no way she was gonna reject the tasty dessert.  Frisk didn’t know the next time she would be offered more of these type of food.  Yes Binkie said she was welcomed to give a taste anytime, but when was the next time she would see any of these Gods or Goddesses?

 

A light tap on the head brought Frisk back to reality.  The spider Goddess had crossed her arms, her sweet smile faltering a little bit as she impatiently tapped her foot.  “Come on, dearie.  Give my food a try, already.”

 

Frisk grinned and gave Muffet a wink.  “Sorry, pretty lady.  You’re just distracting me so much I’m not hungry for food anymore.”

 

The other immortals giggled as Muffet’s smile returned, her slightly sour mood gone.  “Just try them already.”

 

Frisk took a bit of the donut and of course just like all the rest of the food, it was amazing.  Much more incredible than any human food Frisk had ever tasted and that made her a little sad.  

 

Aside from the Gods of Death, Frisk knew the Gods and Goddesses no longer visited the human realm, and while the humans could cook up some  **_good_ ** food,  Frisk had to admit they were missing out on some  **_great_ ** food.  

 

“These taste better than any dessert in the human world,” Frisk told her and it had the desired effect.  The spider goddess clapped her hands together. 

 

“Wonderful!  And do you think they would make a profit in the human world?”

 

Frisk paused in mid-bite at the question.  A profit?  

 

“I...I guess,” she said.  Muffet clapped her hands again.  “Excellent. Well, I must be off to manage my table.  Please enjoy the party, my dear!”

 

And with that, Muffet walked back to her own table, blowing a kiss in Frisk’s direction.  Frisk blew a kiss back before she frowned and stared up at Binkie, who was shaking her head at the spider goddess.

 

“What did she mean by profit?”

 

The bunny rolled her eyes.  “Muffet is the Goddess of  Wealth and Prosperity and before the war she gave her secret recipes to the poorest humans she could find so they could sell them and make money.”

 

Frisk’s eyes brightened, her admiration for the spider goddess growing.  “Oh so they could become rich?”

 

Tops scoffed.  “Kind of.  He pastries and drinks always sold quite well, but the humans who sweated to make those items were only allowed to keep five percent of the profits.”

 

**_Five percent of the profits?!  That’s it?!_ ** Frisk was an excellent math student, at least that’s what Toriel always told her,  but she didn’t need to be a genius to know that if a human was doing all the work and earning only five percent of the money, then through various calculations that poor human was sticking the short end of the stick.   

 

“And if a human didn’t pay up…” Whisk trailed off and shuddered.  “Muffet is a nice Goddess if you keep your deal with her.  Don’t..and...well there’s a reason why so many humans are afraid of spiders.”

 

Frisk blinked and stared back at Muffet who was giving a passerby a sugary sweet smile that now seemed a little creepy.  “What would a Goddess want human money for anyway?”

 

Binkie sighed longingly.

 

“Back before the war started, a god’s or goddess’ achievement was based on a number of different things:  for us Merchants is was how successful a human became after using our product.  If their names became well-known because of something we gave them to create and sell, then other Gods and Goddesses knew we had made an impact in the human world.”

 

Whisk nodded.  “For Muffet, it’s all about money.  The humans she helped would become wealthy regardless of their meager pay, but Muffet wanted to personally show off how successful her pastries were.  Her home is literally made out of the gold that human’s use for currency.  Every God and Goddess knew her products were a big name down in the human world.”

 

Frisk paused at the new information.  “And every God and Goddess had a different way of showing how successful they were in the human realm?”

 

Tops snapped his fingers.  “That’s correct, my little one.  Oh!  I’ll be right back!  Looks like I got some people who need help.  And it looks like you do too, my love,” Tops said to Whisk and gestured over to their tables.

 

Frisk looked over as well.  There were lines of Gods and Goddesses waiting for either Whisk’s food or Tops’ Nice Cream.

 

Whisk glanced down at Frisk begrudgingly and sighed.  “They can serve themselves you know.”

 

Tops nodded.  “What do you expect?” he muttered before he looked down at Frisk.  “Well it was a pleasure meeting you, little one.  I hope we can chat like this some other time.”

 

Frisk eagerly nodded her head.  “Yes!  I’ll talk to my mama and tell her to invite you all over to our house.”

 

Whisk’s shaky smile came over his face again.  “Really?  You’d want us over?”

 

“Well yeah.  I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t mean it.”

 

Whisk’s smile became a little more confident.  “Well then, little friend, if you invite us, we’ll come!  And if you don’t have to leave soon, don’t.  Enjoy the party.”

 

And with that both Gods left.  

 

Frisk stared at the half-eaten food before she stared up at Binkie, whose own table was getting a little busy.  

 

“Stay here, Frisk and eat the rest of your food,” Binkie sweetly ordered.   Perhaps after Binkie was done helping the people at her table, she could take Frisk around to meet the other Gods and Goddesses and let her play with-

 

“Yo!  Hi!”

 

That little armless God that first greeted them was standing at the table.  Frisk smiled.

 

“Greetings, friend.  How are you doing today?”

 

The music in the background became a little louder as the little God stared at Frisk, a deep blush on his face before he kicked the ground softly.  Frisk met enough other children to know what his problem was and it was pretty cute.  She never thought a God could be shy.  

 

“Um...so you’re really half human huh?”

 

Frisk nodded and couldn’t help herself.  He was just too cute not to tease.  “And you’re really a god.”

 

“....Um...yeah.  My name is  Thlipsi ..what’s...what’s yours?”

 

“Frisk.”

 

Thlípsi laughed.  “Frisk? That’s a funny human name.”

 

“Oh trust me, it’s not a human name.  In fact most  humans I meet often joke by telling me “Frisk” is an odd immortal name.”

 

The little God fell silent again.  “So..I kind of been watching ya...not cause of any weird reason or anything...but...um...what’s the deal?  Are you afraid of us or something?”

 

Frisk blinked at the question.  **_Afraid?  Why would I be afraid of you all?  Mama said none of you were gonna hurt me, so why would I be scared?_ **

 

“Afraid of you?  Why?”  Frisk smirked at him.  “Are you going to challenge me to a fight or something?”

 

His blush deepened as he quickly shook his head.

 

“NO!  Nothing like that!  Honest!  I only ask cause ever since you got here you’ve been standing in the same place with the Goddess of Life, like you was scared or something.  We aren’t gonna hurt ya, you know.”  At this the little God puffed up his chest.  “If ya want I can take you around and introduce you to the other Gods and Goddesses and make sure nothing happens to ya.”

 

It was tempting and when Frisk looked over at Binkie, she was too busy to notice what Frisk was doing.  

 

“Hmmm…well, maybe for just a few seconds.”

 

Thlipsi slammed his tail on the ground in excitement.  “Alright Frisk!  First thing we got to do is introduce ya to Undyne!  She is amazing.  The most powerful goddess of them all.”

 

Frisk nearly blanched out the name.  “Undyne?!  The Goddess of War?!”

 

The roar that exploded through the air shook Frisk to the core as,  once again, all music, laughter and dancing instantly came screeching to a halt.  

 

“HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT NAME!  I AM NOT THE GODDESS OF WAR YOU MISERABLE LITTLE HUMAN!”

 

Frisk’s eyes widened as a giant muscular fish woman hopped over Binkie’s table and stomped towards her and despite the fact that many of the Gods and Goddesses she past, including Tops, Binkie, Muffet and Whisk, tried to grab at her she easily shook them off like they were rag doll, sending them flying in all different directions.

 

Frisk had never seen a look of hatred in another person’s eyes but she was sure the emotion boiling in the fish’s single eye, which was as blue as the deep ocean, was hatred.  Frisk could only stare.  Thlipsi was staring too, but his thoughts were evidently a little different than what Frisk was thinking.

 

“She’s actually coming this way to us!  Frisk, this is the first time I gonna talk to her too!  We’re so lucky.”

 

**_That’s debatable_ ** , Frisk thought and let out a small squeak of fear as the fish Goddess grabbed her by her tunic and raised her up in the air until their noses were smashed against each other.

 

“U-Undyne!  N-No!”  A wheezy voice came from behind the fish lady and because of Undyne’s height, Frisk couldn’t see who her would-be protector looked like.

 

“You’re so lucky Frisk.  She’s actually touching you,” Thlipsi said his voice filled with awe.  

 

“Want to trade places?” Frisk asked and for one second, for just one teeny tiny second, she swore she could have seen a small little hint of a smile come over Undyne’s face before Frisk got an eyeful of the fish’s razor sharp teeth.  

 

“Undyne, really darling.  Picking fights with human children?”  A new voice said and Frisk hoped she looked just as pathetic and as weak as that sentence suggested human children were.

  
Undyne broke eye-contact to glare up at the voice from behind Frisk.

 

“YOU STAY OUT OF THIS METTATON!  SHE STARTED IT!”

 

Frisk swallowed wondering if speaking was her best option and after a second of debating it, she chose to engage the Goddess in conversation.  Her mother always told her that fights could be avoided if you said the right thing.  

 

“I didn’t mean to start anything or insult you,” Frisk said in a clear and sweet voice.  “But you are the Goddess of War though, right?”

 

If the silence was bad before, now it seemed like everybody was holding their breaths too.  

 

“Oh n-no,” the wheezy voice whimpered.

 

**_I did not say the right thing_ ** , Frisk thought as Undyne’s second roar nearly deafened her.  Spit came out of her mouth and hit the demi-goddess in the face.  

 

“I AM NOT THE GODDESS OF WAR!  I AM THE GODDESS OF CONFLICT AND RESOLUTION!  THE HUMANS GAVE ME THAT NAME AFTER THE WAR SO I WOULD APPEAR IRRATIONAL, IMPULSIVE, AND EASILY ANGERED!  WHICH AM I NOT!”  she screamed in Frisk’s face, blowing Frisk’s bangs out of her face.

 

To her horror, her golden crown, her one piece of protection fell off her head and landed on the floor near Thlipsi’s  feet.  

 

**_You’re doing a great job proving them wrong_ ** , Frisk thought but knew that comment would no doubt get her killed.  In a way it was kind of funny.  When her mother finally leaves her and gives her a chance to enjoy the party, that’s when Frisk needs her the most.

 

**_Okay Frisky_ ** , Frisk thought as the heavy panting of Undyne hit her face in little puffs.   **_Think this through get like mama told you to do.  What do you know this goddess?_ **

 

**_She doesn’t think much of humans.   And I also know that if she’s anything like Tops, Whisk, or Binkie or Muffet she wants to show off her skills too.   How can I use that to my advantage…_ **

 

Frisk smiled internally and tried to give the enraged fish goddess the most innocent look she could muster up.

 

“I’m really really sorry, I would never intentionally insult somebody as powerful or as incredible as you.”

 

Undyne’s grip slightly loosened but not by much.  It was something though.

 

“I just...can you explain the difference between conflict and war?  I don’t think I know the difference and I wouldn’t want to insult you in the future”

 

Undyne’s uncovered eye blinked in shock, some of the rage leaving her face and her grip was now nowhere near as painful as it had been.  “What?”

 

At this point the wheezy voice revealed itself to belong to a lizard Goddess who quickly put herself at Undyne’s left side and quickly tugged on her tunic.  

 

“Y-yes U-Undyne.  C-clearly th-this child h-had not been e-educated ab-about your legacy!  She needs it e-explained t-to her!”

 

Thlipsi nodded, jumping up and down.  “Yeah Undyne!  Go on!”

 

Frisk watched as uncertainly replaced Undyne’s rage as she stared at the yellow lizard to the armless little God to Frisk.  Frisk offered her her best smile.

 

“You’re not really gonna hurt me because I said something stupid are you?  I mean I am human after all.”

 

It was the right thing to say.  Frisk nearly wept with relief when she saw Undyne smirk.  Unfortunately it was that moment when the fish Goddess noticed how silent the room was.  

 

“WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS PARTY?!  EVERYBODY START DANCING AND HAVING FUN AGAIN!”

 

And almost instantly the hall was filled with music but the laughter and conversations were nearly non-existent and the dancing wasn’t as...lively as it was before.  Frisk could practically feel every eye on her still.  

 

“Okay human!  Sit down and let me educate you on what my real name is!”  She said and dropped Frisk to her feet.  Without being prompted to, Frisk sat down, crossed legged on the floor with Thlipsi following her.  After a few seconds Undyne joined her with her lizard companion following.

 

“Alright, stupid human, war and what I represent are two very different things.  War are battles between two sets of people with different opinions that just can’t get along for whatever reason and restored to killing each other.  They’re fun and while I was involved in them when I was in the Human Realm that wasn’t what my main purpose was.”

 

Frisk frowned.  In mama’s stories this lady was the goddess that led the Gods and Goddesses into battle, killing hundreds of humans.  

 

“I simply encourage humans to…”Undyne paused as she thought about her words carefully.  The yellow lizard flashed Frisk a nervous smile, letting the demi-goddess know that Undyne could still flip back into enraged mode at anytime.  

 

“Okay.  Here’s what I do:  Humans don’t get along.  I know this because we Gods and Goddesses don’t get along.  You see that guy over there,” Undyne pointed to an odd blobish looking monster who was standing by himself.  Frisk nodded.  

 

“I can’t stand that guy and because I can’t get along with him in this beautiful city where we Gods and Goddesses have everything we need, I know for a fact that the humans, who don’t have as much as we do, don’t get along as well.  Does that make sense so far?”

 

Frisk nodded.  It did.  Frisk had seen parties where people broke out into fights.  

 

“Well say there’s these two humans who don’t get along, only one of those two human is too afraid to confront the other one.  Say this human is being bullied and beaten by this other human day in and day out for months on end and he doesn’t do anything about it.”

 

Frisk frowned at the pretend what-if situation.  “Mom said that you can always make peace through words and loving gestures.”

 

Undyne snorted while the lizard shook her head sadly.

 

“Unfortunately, that’s n-not a-always th-the case.  Some p-people j-just w-won’t stop no matter what y-you t-try to s-say t-to them.”

 

Frisk didn’t respond.  When they got home this would be another discussion they would have.

 

“Exactly.  So say this human has tried everything in a peaceful manner to get this bastard to stop and the guy just won’t stop.  That’s when I got  involved.  In cases like that, a conflict is needed,” Undyne grinned proudly.  “I would give beaten or scared humans the strength to stand up to their tormentors and trust me I didn’t encourage them to use words.  The bully had their chance to listen and they didn’t want to, so now they’re getting throat punched.”

 

Frisk’s eyes widened.  “Throat-punched?”

 

Undyne nodded, that proud smile still on her face.  “You won’t believe how many bullies lost interest in their victims after getting throat punched.”

 

Frisk brought her hand up to her throat and rubbed it cautiously.  “But you’re encouraging two people to fight.”

 

Undyne snorted again.  “No, I am encouraging a hurt human to stand up for themselves.  Completely different.   And more than that it brings peace to that hurt human and humbles the bully.  Helps them rethink their actions the next time they think they can pick on another poor SOUL.  That’s resolution.  First I create conflict and then I give resolution.  Hence MY TITLE:  The Goddess of Conflict and Resolution.”

 

**_Wow, that makes...sense.  But-_ **

 

“How come you were involved in so many human wars?”

 

“That’s what happens when a human doesn’t listen to my encouragements.  They continue to be beaten and the bully gets worse,” Undyne’s face twisted into something unpleasant and bitter.  

 

“Those bullies become even nastier people and then wars start because those bullies were never stood up to and because I still am a Goddess of Conflict and Resolution I need to involve myself to end those wars as quickly as possible.  Conflict is a means to Resolutions.  You can’t have peace unless you fight for it.  Plain and simple.”

 

The new information left Frisk stunned.  In a matter of minutes this insane Goddess suddenly became a wise creature.  The only problem was...

 

**_Mom never told me any of that.  She only told me you killed a bunch of humans.  And you did didn’t you?  Why did you do that if you cared so much about them at one point?  What made you want to wipe them all out after spending so much time helping them?_ **

 

And Frisk was just about to ask her that but thought better of it.  Maybe when she was alone with Whisk or Binkie or Tops she would ask those questions but perhaps asking Undyne directly wasn’t the best idea.  And when it all came down to it, it was too much of a personal question to ask somebody she just met.  

 

“You’re so amazing Undyne,” Thlipsi said.  Undyne shrugged easily and flexed her muscles.  

 

“I’m simply a Goddess,” she declared.  Thlipsi shook his head and looked at Frisk.

 

“Don’t let her modesty fool you, Frisk.  She’s not only the best of the Goddess of all time but she’s the strongest Goddess too.”

 

Frisk titled her head.  “Aren’t all Gods and Goddesses strong?”

 

“I AM THE STRONGEST!” Undyne bellowed and now there was a terrible ringing in Frisk’s ears.  All the music stopped again.  Now the immortals were looking more annoyed than worried and concerned for Frisk’s safety.

 

“Undyne darling, would you stop scaring that poor little-”

 

“FORM THE TOWER!”

 

Frisk raised her eyebrow as nearly every God and Goddess groaned all together.  Thlipsi, on the other hand,  began jumping up and down, wrapping his tail around Frisk’s waist and spinning her around in his excitement.  

 

“Oh boy, the tower!  I’ve never seen this before, but I heard all about it!  Frisk, we are so lucky!”

 

“What’s the tower-” Frisk began to ask only to pause when  **_all_ ** the Gods and Goddesses, save for the old Turtle, began walking into the center of the dance floor and began to pile themselves on top of each other.  It was quick and it a short amount of time a tower of Gods and Goddesses reached the ceiling.  Frisk’s mouth was hung open in disbelief.

 

“Watch and be amazed, human,” Undyne said and stretched her arms out before walking to the giant swaying tower of immortals.  Some of the immortals had their eyes closed and whimpering softly between their teeth.  Others were straining themselves to support the weight of the other immortals that stood on their shoulders.

 

And Frisk’s mouth opened even wider when Undyne lifted the tower with one arm.  She grinned as Frisk clapped and Thlipsi whooped.

 

“See, human? I am the Strongest-”

 

“WOWIE!”  A new voice interrupted the Goddess of Conflict and Resolution.  “UNDYNE!  YOU’RE DOING THE TOWER TRICK!”

 

The new God that entered the room was tall and skinny, dressed in a black tunic with a black hood over his head covering his face.  Frisk took a cautious step back but when he pulled his hood off, her fear instantly melted away.  He was a skeleton but his smile was so wide and so warm that Frisk couldn’t be scared by him.

 

“Hey Papyrus.  Didn’t think you were gonna make it.  I was just showing the human how strong I am.” Undyne explained.  Her voice was beginning to sound a little strained and she was beginning to sweat.

 

Papyrus looked down at Frisk, finally noticing a human was standing right beside him.  Frisk gave him a bow.  

 

“OH!  ARE YOU TORIEL’S HUMAN!?”  Papyrus didn’t wait for Frisk to answer.  “ I WANT TO SHOW HER HOW STRONG I AM TOO!”

 

And with those words, Papyrus raced over to the tower and grabbed Undyne’s legs.  And judging by the way Udyne’s face went from smug to panicked, it was safe to assume that Papyrus was not as strong as Undyne.

 

“No Papyrus!  Don’t-”

 

“NYEH HEH HEH!  WATCH AND BE AMAZED AS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DEMONSTRATE MY STRENGTH, HUMAN!”

 

He jerked her legs to the side and the tower came tumbling down.  Right on top of Frisk.  And all Frisk could do was stare, feeling a sort of numb horror enter her body.

 

**_Well, at least I’ll have a unique death,_ ** she thought as the Gods came crashing down.   **_I bet nobody ever got killed by being crushed by falling immortals-_ **

 

A heavy pressure gripped her so hard that it knocked her breath away.  And in that instance a strong invisible force pulled her back so quickly that she was surprised when she found herself sitting on her bottom, yards away from where she had been standing mere seconds earlier.  

 

A bundle of different colored Gods and Goddesses were now piled, groaning in pain, where she once stood.  She gasped when she saw that hanging out beneath the pile of heavy adult Gods and Goddesses was Thlipsi’s yellow tail.

 

**_Oh no!  Please let him be okay-_ **

 

“ i came in just in time,” a deep voice behind her said.

 

Frisk twisted her body to see another black hooded figure standing behind her.  He was shorter than Papyrus and when he looked down at Frisk, he pulled his hood off, to reveal he was also a skeleton God.  A wide and not so pleasant grin greeted her.

 

“ if i had been just a second too late getting here…” the skeleton paused.  “ i would have totally missed that whole display.”  And with that he started to laugh, holding his stomach in the process. “ that was hilarious!  did you see undyne’s face right before she was crushed?  classic.”

 

Frisk swallowed as the skeleton continued to laugh.  “Are they...gonna be okay?”

 

A particularly loud groan from one of the injured Gods wasn’t reassuring in the least.

 

The skeleton God’s laughter died away.  “they’ll be fine.  i’m taking a break from work today.  there’s no SOUL collecting for me.”

 

Frisk frowned at his choice of words.  Soul collecting?  But she couldn’t think too long and hard about it.  The skeleton bent down and offered a bony hand to her.

 

“i’m sans.  sans the skeleton and the god of death.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always welcomed!


	4. Jokes and Cures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your love, comments and Kudos!

**_Sans?  The God of Death?!_ **

 

The groaning and pained noises of the injured Gods and Goddess faded into the back of Frisk’s mind as she stared up at the grinning God.   Her mother’s words about the God of Death echoed in her mind.  She learned about Sans...well she learned about him and his younger brother during one of Toriel’s many science/history lessons.  

 

It was one of the more...unnerving lessons and it wasn’t because of the actual content, though to be fair, the idea of two all-powerful beings patiently waiting for humans to die wasn’t exactly a comforting thought.  No, what made that particular lesson so disquieting was the way Toriel taught it.  Frisk remembered seeing her mother’s sweet and patient face turn bitter and her bright mirthful eyes becoming sad and hollow.  It was at that moment when Frisk first realized her mother wasn’t always happy.  That the Goddess could be sad and unhappy and it kind of...unsettled Frisk.  And as the Goddess of Life spoke, her words had a heavy edge to them.  Frisk didn’t like that either.  Her mother sounded...miserable.  

 

**_Death is a necessity in the world of humans, or so the other Gods and Goddesses believe, but suffering is not, Frisk.  There are two Gods of Death.  One of them is a merciful God who takes SOULs without allowing the humans to suffer for long periods of time.  If he knows the human cannot be saved, he will take the SOULs from their bodies and lead them to the realm of the afterlife.  He’s quick and he’s gentle._ **

 

And then after Toriel took a deep breath, her sad eyes lost their gentleness and something...cold entered them.  Frisk watched as her hands turned into fists.  

 

**_The other God of Death, Sans, believes in suffering and allows the humans to  sometimes years before he eventually takes their SOULS.  And it’s not enough for him to wait for them to die of natural causes.  He creates and brings diseases to the world to further the suffering of humans and he was the one Asgore used during the war.  He was the one who killed the most humans.  He is the one the humans curse to this day and he is the one who allows the humans to suffer his terrible diseases years upon years before he eventually takes their SOULS to his realm._ **

 

Frisk’s felt her eyes widened as she looked over the smiling God who was still waiting for her to take his hand.  Toriel spoke about Undyne, Wingdings, and Asgore with disgust lacing every word but with Sans she spoke like somebody who was on the verge of vomiting.

 

But while Toriel’s one and only lesson about him detailed all the horrible things he had done during and after the war, the Goddess neglected to tell Frisk about his physical appearance much like she did with the other Gods and Goddesses so Frisk relayed on her imagination to fill in the blanks.

 

When she thought of Sans, she imagined a strong  muscular half-man half-dragon creature God, dressed in black armor, completely coated in human blood,  sword in hand, eyes blazing red, filled with hatred for all living things, speaking in growls and grunts.  

 

It was an image that gave her nightmares but now as she was actually seeing him for what he really was, Frisk was amazed that she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.  Not that she wasn’t relieved to see he wasn’t as imposing or as powerful looking or as unstoppable as Toriel made him out to be.  

 

But after imagining somebody a certain way for so many years, only one thought came to her mind.

 

**_Really?_ **

 

Even though Frisk knew this God had created so much devastation and heartbreak and pain in the human realm, she just couldn’t dig up the same fear she had for him just a few seconds ago when she knew nothing about the way he looked, which she admitted wasn’t an overall smart thing for her to be feeling.  Her mother said he was a terrible creature and Frisk believed her, but then again she said the same thing about Undyne….and Undyne was...a nice Goddess.  

 

Well maybe she was a nice Goddess...Frisk would have to talk more with her...and talk to Toriel about why the Goddess of Wa-the Goddess of Conflict and Resolution made sense (kind of) about her role in the world of the humans and why she was nice to Frisk, if one didn’t include the first minute of her introduction.  

 

But with Undyne, Frisk could easily understand why people feared her.  One look at that tall and powerful Goddess practically created fear and panic.  But this God?  

 

**_This is the God everybody fears?  I know he’s capable of doing terrible things but...he’s a skeleton.  Dressed in a black hooded cloak.  That’s it._ ** Frisk paused in her thoughts and gave him one more look.   **_No that wasn’t just it.  He was also-_ **

 

“hey half-human, don’t you know how to greet a new friend?” he said and once again Frisk felt a very confused inner sense of disappointment to the fact he wasn’t growling at her.  “take my hand and let me help you up-”

 

“You’re shorter that I thought you’d be.” 

 

She didn’t mean to say it aloud, but out of all the physical differences between her imagination and reality, his shortness was the thing that stood out the most to her.  And it wasn’t like he was short-short either.  He was still as tall as an adult human it was just….he was super short when it came to the other Gods and Goddesses.

 

But even if that were true, she knew that saying certain things to certain people was not an intelligent thing to do.  Especially if that person was the feared God of Death, who, from what Frisk was told, enjoyed watching others suffer.  And even though he may not have looked like a threat, the stories Frisk was told by Toriel and by the humans were enough to confirm he was a dangerous God.  

 

But luckily Sans didn’t seem angry or insulted.  In fact, he looked legitimately confused.   

 

“ huh?  what did you say to me?”

 

Frisk breathed a sigh of relief.   **_He didn’t hear me,_ ** she thought gleefully.

 

“Um...nothing,” she said quickly and realizing she might insult him again by not taking his hand, she quickly grasped it, the feeling of just touching bone was more than a little surreal to her and before she could even pull herself up, she watched as his sockets widened and his wide smile faltering for a second.  Almost as though he was surprised.

 

But just as quickly as that expression came it vanished and with paralyzing horror, Frisk watched as the white pupils that made up the skeleton’s eyes disappeared and his grip on her hand tightened.  And became icier.  And his rounded teeth became sharper.  It reminded Frisk of a wolf’s teeth.

 

He started to chuckle darkly and as he bent down lower to her level, she found she couldn’t turn away from his empty sockets stare that never left her eyes.  Frisk felt her heart give a heavy thump as a chill ran down her spine.

 

**_Okay,_ ** she thought, beginning to shake.  She wanted to turn around to where all the Gods and Goddesses were and call out for help but her voice was frozen in her throat.  **_Now I see why so many people are terrified of him.  Okay.  I got it.  I’d like to be disappointed again.  I’d like to be unimpressed with him again._ **

 

“ the humans souls in my world would just love to have another new soul to play with.  i think you would make a nice addition to my collection.”  His voice was still laid-back and that made it all the more terrifying.   ****

 

Frisk didn’t know what to say.  Death was a subject she and her mother hardly ever spoke of and they never once spoke about Frisk’s eventual death.  As a half-human Frisk knew she wasn’t immortal, but  Frisk didn’t think much of what her own death might be like because she aged much slower than a regular human and with her own small amount of magic, she was immune to a lot of the diseases that infected the human world.  And plus...what child even thinks about their death that long or that often?  Every time Frisk brought up the subject, Toriel was quick to change it.  

 

But there were times when Frisk was laying in bed that the thought of dying came into her head.  She knew she was gonna die eventually.  She just didn’t think it would be so soon.  At a party.  Surrounded by immortals.  Now that was just as impressive of a death as being crushed by a tower of Gods and Goddesses.  

 

“i’ll even make it quick and painless for ya.  it’ll just be like ya were taking a nice little nap.  what do you say?  you seem like the type who's always lookin’ to make new friends.”

 

She remembered something an old human once told her.  The lady was in her eightieth year and lived in a rather big town that Frisk chose to visit during that year’s Festival of Life and Freedom. And during a moment where Frisk stopped dancing to talk to some of the humans that weren’t very active for one reason or another, she started talking to the old lady.  The woman had a lot of wrinkles on her face, white hair and most of her teeth missing from age, but her eyes sparkled with as much life as a child’s.  

 

The wonderful old lady had said she was glad Frisk chose her city to visit.  She said she knew this festival was gonna be her last one.  Frisk remembered feeling surprised the old lady didn’t sound unhappy or scared about it and when Frisk asked her why she wasn’t scared, the old lady gave her a charming and toothless smile.

 

**_“I hear that Death always collects us with a smile on his face.  Not good manners if ya don’t smile back.”_ **

 

**_She wasn’t wrong_ ** , Frisk thought.  Death not only smiles, he smiles with a large wide grin on his face.  Frisk gulped.   **_Well if he is as sadistic and as cruel as mama said, then this really is my last few minutes._ **   And so with her heart thumping, hoping Toriel could feel all the love she was sending out to her, Frisk looked directly at Sans and smiled her best smile.  

 

And once again, that strange look of surprise came over his face.  Frisk couldn’t help but feel just a teeny bit proud.  His sockets widened and his grip on her hand loosened, but not enough for her to tear her hand away.

 

“I can always use new friends,” she said in the best adult voice she could muster up.  

 

The skeleton didn’t say anything for a few seconds and behind her,  Frisk heard a number of the monsters calling her name, finally realizing the Goddess of Life’s daughter might be seriously injured or in this case...dead.  If Frisk would have turned around she would have seen Undyne frantically picking Gods and Goddesses up from the huge pile they made and hurling them away in a desperate effort to find the demi-goddess.  

 

But Frisk didn’t turn around and instead waited for the sadistic God of Death to do what he was gonna do.  And finally after what seemed like an entity of waiting, Sans was the first one to break away from their staring contest.

  
“ you humans don’t have a funny bone in your bodies” he grunted and with one easy pull of his arm lifted the tiny demi-goddess to her feet.  He started to shove his hands into the pockets of his cloak but stopped halfway, his sockets widening once more almost as though he just realized something.  

 

Still in her stunned horrified state, Frisk watched as the God of Death’s shoulders started to shake as a more...pleasant laughter filled her ears.

 

“ heh.  no funny bone...heh heh heh…” he started to laugh so hard he snorted.  He looked at Frisk.  “ get it?  no funny bone?!”  He bent over, grabbing his knees as he continued to laugh.  

“ no funny bone!”

 

Frisk did get the joke.  God made of bones making a joke about bones, and normally she would have laughed.  In truth she was a huge fan of jokes and so was her mother but most people simply don’t recover so quickly from thinking they only had a few second left to live and Frisk wasn’t exactly immune to this feeling.

 

Gulping, her mouth now incredible dry, still frozen in her spot by fear, Frisk could only wait until Sans have composed himself before speaking.  She reminded herself to speak in a polite and respectable tone.  The type mama always told her to use in the presence of humans. 

 

“You’re not going to kill me?”

 

The skeleton looked her over before he snorted with laughter again.  

 

“ nah...didn’t ya hear me a second ago?  i’m taking a break.  no one's losing their souls today.”

 

Frisk stared at him.  So those pitch-black eyes, that dark chuckle and his words...they were all a big joke?  Almost as if reading her mind, Sans shrugged his shoulders.

 

“i would have went with the ol’ taking my hand away real quick when ya tried to grab for it, but...ya called me short so i had to bring out my best jokes.  ya understand right, friend?”

 

Frisk felt a blush come up on her face but it wasn’t from embarrassment or shame that the skeleton actually heard her comment about his height.  It was the fact that she was still shaking with mind numbing fear and this...God thought it was funny to joke about death.  

 

Forsaking all forms of manners, Frisk couldn’t help herself and glared coldly at him.  Sans took a step back, raising his hands mockingly.

 

“You called me a half human first,” she challenged, crossing her arms over her chest childishly.  “Why shouldn’t I call you short?”  And as soon as she asked that question, she felt stupid because the answer was as clear as day.  

 

**_Because I’m a God and you’re a mortal half human._ ** That was the answer Frisk expected but instead Sans’ grin only seemed to widened and the white lights that made up his sockets glowed.  Frisk couldn’t help but stare at them.  For as ugly and as scary as his sockets were when they became pitch black that was how pretty and eye-catching they were when they glowed.

 

“alright alright, maybe following up your short comment when a empty death threat wasn’t exactly an equal tit for tat but try to understand i have limited material to work with,” he said.  

 

Frisk raised an eyebrow.  “Limited material?” 

 

Sans nodded.  “that’s right.  i’m made out of bones and my job requires me the ghastly task of taking human souls to my realm.  ya see where i’m at a disadvantage right?”

 

Behind her, Frisk heard  Thlípsi frantically calling her name along with the other Gods and Goddesses.  She sighed in relief.   **_He's okay._ ** **_I guess being crushed by a tower of immortals doesn’t exactly have the same effect on him it would have on me,_ ** she thought before she answered Sans.  

 

“Disadvantage?”  she repeated.  “How are you at a disadvantage with joke material?  You’re thousands of years old.  And besides you could have just said something like “you called me short?  Alright now I got a bone to pick with you-”

 

Frisk wasn’t even halfway done with her sentence before Sans started laughing again.  

 

“bone to pick?!” heh heh heh!  okay that one was pretty good!” he said and despite her fear Frisk couldn’t help but feel just a little satisfied with herself feeling a tiny smile graced her lips as she watched the God of Death, the feared vicious sadist God of Death chuckling over a stupid pun.  

 

He was laughing like she had said one of the funniest things in the world and there was something….pleasing about somebody enjoying something she said.  Granted the humans did the same thing but there was a part of her that wondered if they only laughed at her because she was the Goddess of Life’s daughter.

 

“so you’re toriel’s child, huh?” he asked after he calmed down again.  Frisk nodded her head proudly.  The skeleton sniffled out some weak laughter.

 

“i guess i should call you a  **_kid_ ** then huh?” he said with a wink.

 

It took Frisk a minute to get the joke but when she did she couldn’t help but laugh, feeling a bit more of her fear dissolve much like with Undyne.  But still there was one thing that plagues Frisk’s mind.  

 

**_Is this God seriously the one that brings diseases to the world and allows humans to suffer for years until he reaps their souls?  Him?_ ** Frisk wondered again.  There was something hard for her believe that a God who would like terrible jokes could be responsible for that much suffering, but….

 

Mama was the one who told her that fact, and mama was never wrong.  And so with a smile on her face, hoping she didn’t seem rude but not wanting to press her luck in ruining the God of Death’s good mood by saying something stupid,  Frisk took a cautious step away from him and he must have noticed because he stopped chuckling, the bright glow of his sockets dimming slightly.

 

“i don’t know where ya got your sense of humor from, kid, but it ain’t from toriel cause that lady does not have  **_humerus bone_ ** in her body,” he said but this time didn’t laugh at his own joke.  Frisk didn’t either.  Never once in her life did she hear somebody say something so negative about her mother and it didn’t sit well with her.

 

“Mom has a good sense of humor,” Frisk said, defensively.  “She loves a good joke.”

 

Sans hummed at that, his sockets dimming even more.  “maybe she developed one after the war cause i never seen her laugh at one of my jokes before.”

 

**_If your jokes are anything like the death threat you pulled on me, it’s no wonder she never found you funny,_ ** Frisk thought but didn’t say it aloud.  She’d defend her mom but she wasn’t stupid enough to insult the God of Death...twice.

 

An uncomfortable silence filled the air before Sans spoke again.

 

“so where is the goddess of life anyways?”

 

“She’s visiting an old friend’s home-” Frisk began to say only to pause when she heard the voices of the Gods and Goddesses begin to scream out her name in full panic.   

 

Frisk started to turn around to answer them, wondering why they couldn’t see her when she was only a few yards away at best, but before she could call out to them she saw the taller skeleton that toppled the tower coming towards them.

 

He had called himself Papyrus.  Sans and Papyrus.  And now that Frisk knew one God of death was nothing but bones, it was reasonable to assume that Papyrus must have been the other God of Death.  The….the merciful one as her mother told her.  He certainly looked friendly and happy.  

 

“I FOUND HER!” he cried out his wide smile getting bigger, clearly satisfied with the fact he spotted Frisk fit's the.    His wide smile vanished when he looked past her towards Sans.  “SANS!  WHY ARE YOU MAKING HER INVISI-SANS!!”

 

Frisk turned around and blinked in shock when she saw that the shorter God of Death was nowhere to be found.  And when she turned back around she stumbled back in surprise when the taller God of Death was only an inch away from her.  **_How’d he get to me so quickly_ ** , she thought then jerked her head wildly once again to where Sans had been.   **_And where did Sans go?_ **

 

“I AM MOST PLEASED TO SEE THAT YOU WERE NOT INJURED BY THE TOWER!” he declared, straightening himself up to his full height and posing with his arms dramatically at his side.  Frisk nearly giggled at the sight.  All he needed was some kind of cape flowing in the wind behind him and he would have the heroic look down easily.  

 

Maybe something red to go with his black tunic.  Red and black did go great together.  

 

“I’m pretty happy about that too,” she agreed and shot him a cheerful smile.  He let out another round of his odd “NYEH HEH HEH” laughter.

 

“CLEARLY I AM STILL NOT PHYSICALLY STRONG ENOUGH TO PERFORM THAT TRICK, BUT I BELIEVE THAT WITH MORE TRAINING I’LL MASTER IT!”

 

Frisk nodded again.  While Sans was built up in her imagination to be a blood-thirsty creature, she never once imagined what the merciful God of Death might look like, but like Sans, she never would have thought he was a tall, loud, friendly-looking skeleton. 

 

“Practice makes perfect.  And I think you actually did managed to lift the tower for a few seconds before it...you know…” she let out a flirty giggle.  “...dropped on you.”

 

That really didn’t happen but compliments never hurt anybody.  

 

Like Sans, the white lights in Papyrus’ sockets seemed to glow.  “REALLY?!  WOWIE!  LAST TIME I COULDN’T EVEN LIFT UNDYNE’S LEGS OFF THE GROUND!  MY TRAINING MUST REALLY BE WORKING!”

 

Frisk grinned.  “You do have  **_quite_ ** the built body.  Nice muscular arms and tight legs.”  She let out a wolf whistle the humans taught her to do that brought an instant blush to the skeleton’s face.  She almost laughed out loud.  Frisk never thought bones could blush.  

 

“WELL YOU ARE CERTAINLY A VERY GOOD JUDGE OF CHARACTER, LITTLE HUMAN!  BUT UNFORTUNATELY MY IMPRESSIVE BODY IS STILL NOT UP TO UNDYNE’S LEVEL OF LIFTING MANY GODS AND GODDESSES ALL AT ONCE.  LUCKILY IT APPEARS THAT MY USUALLY LAZY BROTHER SAVED YOU FROM GETTING CRUSHED!”

 

All Frisk’s good humor vanished when Papyrus said that.   **_Saved me?_ **  Frisk frowned thoughtfully.   **_Something did pull me back...was that SANS!?  The vicious God of Death-_ **

 

Papyrus grabbed her hand, tearing the demi-goddess out of her thoughts.

 

“COME ON, LITTLE HUMAN!  IT’S TIME TO PLAY SOME GAMES THAT I MADE SPECIALLY FOR THIS PARTY!  YOU LIKE PUZZLES RIGHT?”

 

“Um-”

 

“EXCELLENT!” he said cheerfully and began to drag the little demi-goddess with him to the rest of Gods and Goddesses.  

 

Binkie was the first one to run towards them, the enormous amount of panic on her face quickly dissolving into wild relief as she immediately started to ask Frisk a million times in so many different ways if the little mortal were okay.  

 

As Frisk unsuccessfully tried to reassure the frantic bunny she was indeed okay, she chanced a look behind her to the spot where Sans and she had been talking.  

 

She didn’t see him but that didn’t stop her from feeling something watching her and after a long consideration, she waved to the spot he had been in.

 

She didn’t know why and she couldn’t see it, but she honestly felt he was waving back.

 

*************************************************************************************************

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in your home before, Wingdings,” Toriel said, breaking the silence between the two powerful immortals as she looked around the darken area of what could be the God of Science’s work shop.  There were no windows in this room to let the artificial sun in and there were only three lighted candles that allowed Toriel to see where she was.  The air felt cold.  

 

Matched the God of Science just fine in Toriel’s opinion, but she didn’t offer any of those thoughts as she squinted her eyes to adjust to the darkness and looked around the room.  

 

There were a number of different workbenches in the cramp room and each table was covered with clear glass cups and tubes filled with strange and odd colored liquids.  She felt a shiver run down her spine as she imagined years and years ago when the war was still going on, Wingdings sitting at one of thsee tables and creating his human eating black goo.  The Void as the humans called it.  

 

And as she imagined that, she felt her eyes narrow hatefully towards Wingdings who had his back turned to her.  And that small part of her, that unforgiving part that would forever hate all the Gods and Goddesses that helped kill thousands of her beloved creations, ferociously encourage her to live his home.  To refuse to accept his help.

 

But just as that voice began, her love for her creations quickly stamped it out.   **_You can’t find a cure for Sans’ latest disease.  Let the past….go just this once.  For the humans._ **

 

And the thought was enough for her to calm down and move to Wingdings’ side when the God mentioned her forward with one of his gaping hole hands.

 

The working bench they were looking down at was quite bare.  The only things that were on the table were three different plants that Toriel had never seen before.   Which meant one thing:  they were Asgore’s plants.  Plants that he never introduced to the human world.  Plants that he created either during the war or after the war.  And despite herself, Toriel couldn’t help but be impressed at how beautiful they were.  

 

The were all different shades of purple and white and each plant had it’s own unique look.  The first one had a white stem with bright purple thorns and long dark purple petals.  The second one had purple leaves, white rose-like petals and a purple steam.  The third one reminded Toriel of Asgore’s famous Golden Flowers, but instead of gold, the petals where a mixture of purple and white and the stem was a swirl of the two color.

 

“They...they are quite lovely,” Toriel said only to receive an indifferent shrug from Wingdings, his face expressionless.

 

“I suppose they are pleasing to the eye, but they also hold the cure for Sans’ newest disease,” the God explained and lifted the first flower for Toriel to see.  

 

“The petals of this flower holds the antidote for the disease, but unfortunately the chemicals needed to heal the humans cannot be activated until you mix certain parts from the other two flowers,” he explained, his voice becoming a tad bit livelier.  

 

Toriel almost smirked in amusement.  Even the God of Science, one of the most emotionless Gods of them all could get excited when he was talking about one of his own creations or discoveries.  

 

He placed the flower down and lifted up the second flower.  “So what you want to do is boil some water and grind up the first flower’s petals until they become dust and then add it to the water.  Are you following me so far?”  He asked.  Toriel nodded, slightly offended he would ask that after only two simple directions.  He nodded.

 

“Very good. And then you take the purple leaves from this flower’s stem and add them to the water.  They will dissolve on their own.  And finally you want to take this third plant-,” he paused to place the second flower down and pick up the third one, “-and  tear the head off.  Just break the stem up into little pieces and add that to the water.  Boil it all up until it becomes a tea.  And that’s it.” 

 

He snapped his fingers, making Toriel blinked and gave her a sly smile.  “And that’s the cure for Sans’ latest and deadliest gift to humanity.  Very brilliant of him to create a disease where the cure is only found in the realm of the Gods and Goddesses.  He’s becoming smarter,” Wingdings said and placed the flower back on the table.

 

It took Toriel only a minute to absorb Wingdings’ information, but when she did, Toriel’s teeth set themselves into a snarl.   **_That bastard Sans just won’t stop until he’s killed every last human,_ ** Toriel thought before a more crucial thought entered her mind.  Something that kickstarted her panic.

 

Asgore.  Since Asgore grew these flowers, Toriel had no idea what magic he used to create them or how he created them .  She would need to ask Asgore for his plants.  And the thought of asking him for anything sent a slimey chill up her spine

 

“Oh my.  What a look of complete horror on your face, my dear.  Let me guess.   You’re thinking about what you’re going to say to Asgore, am I right?”

 

Toriel could only nod as Wingdings chuckled mischievously, taking the ex-queen of the Gods and Goddesses by surprised.  The God opened the drawer to his workbench and pulled out three small leather bags and held them out toward Toriel.

 

“These are seeds for all three plants.  You can grow them at your house or have your beautiful daughter give them to the doctors in the human world.  They grow impressively quick, practically overnight without the use of magic and Sans’ new illness will be destroyed within a matter of days.”

 

Toriel could only stare at the God of Science as he placed all three leather bags in her hand.  

 

She...she really couldn’t believe it.  The God of Science, the God who killed so many humans in such a terrible way...really was reaching a hand out….he really did want to help.  And the thought was so...unexpected, something that Toriel never thought she would think and immediately turned her head slightly and bleated.

 

“Well if this does work-”

 

“It will.  I have only ever been wrong once in my entire life.  Matters of science are not something I make mistakes in.”

 

Toriel narrowed her eyes as another thought came to her.  “How do you even know the humans are suffering this disease?”

 

The God shrugged as a playful smirk came over his face.  “It’s easy to...um….get Papyrus to talk about the latest happenings in the human world.  He told me the symptoms, down to the last detail and I created a cure based on those symptoms.”

 

Toriel looked at the bags in her hands.  “But if this was never tested on a human-”

 

“It was,” Wingdings said smugly.  

 

“What?!” Toriel practically shouted.   **_Wingdings came into the human-_ **

 

“Papyrus doesn’t like suffering and so one night without being seen or telling his brother what he was doing,  I told him to feed the tea to a child whose body was being destroyed by the illness.  She got better almost instantly.”

 

**_Papyrus…_ ** .Toriel frowned but there was no bitterness this time.  He was never involved in the war either.   **_He really hasn’t changed at all._ **

 

“W-well,” Toriel began.  “Thank you for your kindness, Wingdings,  and IF this does work-”

 

“Once again, it will,” Wingdings said.  Toriel inwardly smirked at the annoyance in his voice.

 

“Well I’ll be sure to have my child let the people know not all Gods and Goddesses have completely abandoned them.”

 

The God of Science bowed.  “That’s all I ask.”

 

Toriel nodded and started to walk away, eager to get out of Wingdings’ house and get back to the party and more importantly to Frisk but once again she paused and turned back to the God of Science.

 

“When you said you were only wrong once what did you mean by that?”

 

**_It’s so unlike you to admit something like that, Wingdings,_ ** she thought and waited for him to respond.  

 

The God of Science hummed thoughtfully.

 

“I thought the war between the Humans and the Immortals would end quickly with a predictable result.  Humans die, immortals don’t.  But….”Wingdings paused and ran a finger over the scar the human warrior gave him all those years back.

 

Toriel waited for him to continue.  It hurt to hear how cold Wingdings sounded in that moment.  How emotionless it was for him to kill a whole race of people as though they were nothing more than bugs.  

 

“But the humans not only kept fighting but they actually managed to kill the Dog Warrior Gods and Goddess.  Neither Sans or Papyrus reaped those Immortals and to this day that is the biggest mystery in our world.  How can a God or Goddess die?”

 

Toriel didn’t answer and could only shrug to let Wingdings know she was just as stumped as he was.  In truth, when she first heard the news that the humans had managed to kill off not one Immortal, but multiple immortals she was amazed and horrified.  She didn’t want neither side to experience loss, but in the end war was war, but….

 

….How could a side lose even one soldier when Death was on their side?  But it happened and it was at that point when the Gods and Goddesses raced back to Mount Ebott.  

 

But Wingdings left the war much sooner than that.  He left after that human female managed to injure him before that black goo ate her.  

 

“I thought I had the entire war summed up but then…” he rubbed his scar again.  “I got injured from that human.  All that pain she went through just to get to me,” he grinned widely.  “You created humanity, my dear Goddess of Life, but humanity created Determination all on it’s own.”

 

 

Toriel nodded proudly.   **_Determination_ ** .   It was one of the main reasons why the war started to begin with.  The humans were determined to break away from the Gods and Goddesses’ influence and live their own lives in their own ways and the Immortals didn’t like being ignored.  Or at least that’s what Toriel always assumed.  

 

Wingdings chuckled.  “ **_Determination_ ** is something humans have that immortals lack.  I didn’t think of that at first and if I had I wouldn’t have even have gotten involved in the war to begin with.  But as soon as that  sword touched me, I realized we never stood a chance.”

 

After he finished, the air got a little colder and Toriel distracted herself by stuffing the bags into the pockets of her tunic.  

 

“Your daughter….she’s a mix isn’t she?  She has a human’s SOUL with just a little bit of  **_your_ ** own precious magic in it, right?”

 

Toriel nodded cautiously.  “Yes.  Her SOUL does have a bit of magic in it.  Her magic becomes stronger when she enters the human realm but she is more human than anything else.”

 

Wingdings hummed again.  “So she will grow old and die?”

 

A smothering anger instantly hit the Goddess’ chest warming up her entire body.

 

“That’s none of your business-”

 

The God of Science reached out and clasp a boney hand on the goddess’ shoulder.

 

“There could be a way to prevent her death.  I could study her SOUL and see what needs to be done to make her immortal.” he said sincerely.

 

Toriel didn’t respond.  She suddenly had the urge to run back to the party and make sure Frisk was okay.  She didn’t want to discuss this.  She didn't want to even think about that day.  Not now.  Not ever.

 

“I...should be getting back to the party.”

 

Wingdings let her go.  “Of course.”

 

And just as Toriel was about to rush out of the room, she heard Wingdings’ cold voice hit her ears.

 

“Just think it over.  And please remember...Sans likes to take people by surprise.”

 

Toriel rushed out of the room.

*************************************************************************************

“OKAY!  SO HERE’S HOW THIS PUZZLE WORKS:  YOU HAVE TO STEP ON THE X’S TO TURN THEM INTO CIRCLES.  THE FIRST ONE TO TURN ALL THE X’S INTO CIRCLES WINS!”

 

Frisk looked at her opponent,  Thlipsi and gave him a challenging smirk.  The armless little God returned the smirk.  On his side cheering him on were Undyne and Alphys.  Well...Alphys was cheering both children on.  Undyne was the one saying things like “Don’t embarrass us, brat.  You better beat that human, brat!”  “She’s inferior to you, brat.”

 

And every time Undyne talked to him, Thlipsi looked like he was going to die of pure happiness.  

 

**_He really does love Undyne,_ ** Frisk thought before focusing her attention back on her puzzle.  The merchant Gods and Goddess cheered her on as she bent low preparing to sprint as fast as she could.  

 

She was kind of happy there weren’t a lot of Gods and Goddesses watching her.  After a majority of them visited Gerson’s table to drink his healing remedies, most of them either went back to dancing or drinking at Grillby’s table.  

 

Papyrus stood in front of the two children, his hand raised up.  Behind him were two large puzzles.  One was for Thlipsi and one was for Frisk.  They were the exact same size with the exact same X patterns.  

 

“ON YOUR MARKS,” Papyrus began dramatically.  Frisk and Thlipsi bent down lower.  “GET SET,” Frisk looked over at her friend and playfully narrowed her eyes at him.  He returned the gesture.  “G-HOLD ON!”

 

Frisk stumbled forwards and managed to catch herself from falling but  Thlipsi wasn’t so lucky.  He fell face first on the ground but quickly pushed himself back up before Frisk could offer her help.  

 

Undyne started laughing.  “This is so much fun,” she muttered to Alphys who giggled.  

 

“I ALMOST FORGET AN IMPORTANT RULE: YOU HAVE TO STEP ON THE X’S TO TURN THEM INTO CIRCLES, BUT IF YOU STEP ON A CIRCLE YOU TURN IT BACK INTO A X.  IF THAT HAPPENS YOU HAVE TO TURN IT BACK INTO A CIRCLE!  AND IF YOU NEED TO START OVER YOU WALK OVER TO THOSE TWO ROCKS,” Papyrus pointed to two rocks.  One was on the left side of Frisk’s puzzle while the other rock was on the right side of the little God’s puzzle.  “AND PRESS IT.  THAT WILL RESTART THE PUZZLE!  UNDERSTAND?”

 

Frisk blinked and looked at Thlipsi who stared back at her with an equally confused look on his face.  And then both of them stared at the Gods and Goddesses who were watching them.  They looked just as confused as the children were.  

 

The smile started to fall from Papyrus’ face when nobody answered.

 

“UN-UNDERSTAND?” He repeated.

 

Frisk smiled at him.  “Do you think you could show us how to play it?”

 

The huge smile that appeared on Papyrus’ face nearly ripped his head in two.  “YOU’RE ASKING THE GREAT PAPYRUS FOR HINTS?”

 

“Of course-”

 

GO OVER TO YOUR ROCK AND PRESS IT THREE TIMES,” he said with a sly smile on his face.  Frisk turned to look at Thlipsi who just shrugged.

 

Frisk walked to her rock and stomped out it three times.  Instantly the X’s on her puzzle turned to circles.  Papyrus cheered.  

 

“WELL DONE HUMAN!  YOU SOLVED THE PUZZLE-”

 

Undyne’s growl of frustration interrupted the God who shot the Goddess a puzzled look. 

 

“No she didn’t, Papyrus.  Urgh!  See this is your problem!”

 

PAPYRUS frowned.  “WHAT PROBLEM?”

 

Undyne rubbed her single eye.   “The problem is you create complex puzzles and when somebody ask you for a hint you totally just let them win without letting them sweat!  That’s not how a puzzle is supposed to work!”  

 

Papyrus crossed his arms and scoffed.  “MY PUZZLES ARE UNIQUE AND AT TIMES DO NOT FOLLOW TRADITIONAL RULES-”

 

“No don’t start with that again-”

 

“NO LISTEN, UNDYNE, MY PUZZLES HAVE CERTAIN STANDARDS-”

 

Frisk felt something wrap around her wrist and when she looked away from the good-natured fight, she saw Thlipsi smiling at her.  “This could last awhile.  Want to sit and talk before we try this puzzle again?”

 

Frisk smiled and allowed him to lead her to Binkie’s table.  They both sat down and each began munching on one of the Bunny Goddess’ treats.  

 

“So how old are you Frisk?”  Thlipsi asked, a few crumbs spilling out of his mouth.

 

“Based on some math, Mama said I’m nine.   How about you?” 

 

The armless God swallowed.  “I’m eleven.”

 

“How much is that in human years?”  Thlipsi shrugged.  The demi-goddess bit her lip.

 

“Can I ask you a question that might seem stupid to you since you’re a God?”

 

The armless God nodded, taking another bite of his treat.  “Go ahead.  I understand you’re not an immortal and may not understand everything about us.”

 

His warm and inviting voice encouraged Frisk to continue.  

 

“So I always thought Gods and Goddesses didn’t...ya know age and I never thought they would have children...so are you eleven forever or-”

 

Thlipsi’s soft laughter made Frisk blush but after a minute he smiled warmly at her.

 

“Nah I’m not eleven forever.  I’ll stop aging when I found out what my gift is.”

 

Frisk frowned.  “Gift?”

 

Thlipsi nodded.  “Yeah. You see Gods and Goddesses start off as babies like humans are, but they age much slower-”

 

**_Just like me,_ ** Frisk thought, but didn’t interrupt.  

 

“-but during a moment in their lives they realize what their gift is and they stop aging.”

 

Frisk tapped her chin at the new information.  “So Undyne stopped aging when she realized she could-”

 

“-start conflicts so resolutions could happen,” Thlipsi finished, taking the final bite out of his treat.  “I’m hoping I’m kind of like her.  Ya know, where my gift involves me being strong and brave.”  He swallowed.  “I’m still hungry.  Stay here Frisk, I’m gonna get me one of Whisk’s burgers.”

 

Frisk smiled.  “They’re good.”

 

Thlipsi began running towards the table full of burgers only to trip once more.  He pushed himself back up and shot her an embarrassed grin before he took off again.  

 

“ i don’t know.   i think he would make an excellent god of juggling,” a deep voice said behind Frisk,  making her jump.  She turned around to see Sans resting his elbows on the table. 

 

Frisk frowned, shooting him a sour face.  “That wasn’t even funny.”

 

Sans chuckled.  “ that joke was mostly for me.  i can have quite a dark sense of humor sometimes.  so what do you think of my brother?”

 

Frisk looked over to where she had left Papyrus and Undyne and now both of them were racing each other on the puzzles.  Nobody was winning.  She smiled.

 

“I like him.  He’s funny.”

 

Sans’ sockets glowed again.  “ yeah he’s a good fellow.  best guy i know.  heh heh heh  i remember this one time-”

 

Frisk leaned over and kissed him on the side of his skull.  All his words screeching to a halt.  She smiled at his clearly shocked expression.  All the humans she kissed had similar expressions.  Why were thank you kisses so shocking.  They’re just little kisses.

 

“Thank you for saving me.”

 

The skeleton didn’t respond.  She giggled and finally Sans spoke after a few seconds of stunned silence.

 

“um...i don’t know what you’re talking-”

 

“Papyrus told me you saved me.  Unless he’s lying of course.”

 

Sans blinked before he laughed, only this laugh wasn’t easy or smug.  It sounded uncomfortable.

 

“ yeah well i-”

 

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU BASTARD!”

 

It almost seemed like a theme at this point.  Somebody would scream and the music, the laughter and the talking would stop.  Frisk felt her eyes widen when she saw her mother stomping towards her.  Only this wasn’t the Gentle Mother she knew.  Toriel looked enraged.  Her eyes were blazing and her teeth were set in a snarl and for one second for the first time in her life, Frisk became frightened of her mother.

 

Toriel grabbed Frisk’s arm, roughly and painfully and jerked her off the table, the only thing not keeping the girl from falling to the ground was her mother’s iron clad grip.  

 

Sans looked up at Toriel, completely unbothered by the Goddess of Life’s enraged face.

 

“toriel, “ he began easily.  “you’re lookin good.”

 

Frisk watched as her mother’s eyes narrowed.  “Don’t you dare talk to me you murderer,” she hissed.

 

Sans simply rested his chin in his hand.  “you seem tense.  how about a joke?  everybody loves a joke.”

 

Toriel scoffed and leaned down until their faces were only inches from each other.  

 

“You want a joke?  How about you stare at a looking glass because you are the biggest joke in the whole universe, Sans.”

 

And just for one terrifying second, Frisk saw the white lights in Sans’ sockets turn a deep and ominous red but before he could say anything, Toriel turned around, her grip still iron strong on Frisk’s arm and began dragging her out of the Great Hall.

 

Frisk chanced a look all around the room. Every God and Goddess was staring with wide eyes and open mouthed at Toriel.  Even Thlipsi was staring in complete shock, bits of burger falling out of his mouth.

 

She started to wave to him, but one jerk on her arm from Toriel and they were out of the room and heading back to their little cottage.

****************************************************************************************

After Toriel’s exit all the Gods and Goddesses remained silent and finally after a few seconds, one of them spoke.  It was Undyne.

 

“Why couldn’t your brother stay home like always, Papyrus?”

 

If Sans heard her comment he didn’t react.  He simply looked around the room much like Frisk did and scoffed.  

 

“and they say i kill a party,” he grumbled loudly for everybody to hear before disappearing completely.  

 

With a nervous laugh Papyrus followed his brother, vanishing into thin air as well.

 

And after that there was more silence until Wingdings walk to the center of the Great Hall.

 

“This is not a failed attempt my friends,” he addressed the room.  “We simply must not give up.”

 

Alphys moaned.  “You j-just saw w-what Sans d-did-”

 

“Nevermind what Sans did.  We have to keep this plan going if we are ever going to be in the human realm again.  I have a plan.”

 

He turned towards Thlipsi and smile widely.  “We simply must….keep Asgore in the dark about what happened here today.  He might try to apologize, and we can’t have more people upsetting Toriel.”  

 

All the immortals looked at one another before a majority started to nod in cautious agreement.

 

Wingdings’ smile widened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...Toriel is...healing nicely from the past...
> 
> Comments are always welcomed.


	5. Home Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry about the delay! ^^ And as almost we thank you all for your support, kindness, patience and kudoes!!!

“I can’t believe it.  I just….Sans….the bastard will never stop tormenting me.  He just won’t stop.”

 

Frisk stared silently at her lap sitting at the kitchen table trying not to watch as the giant goddess nervously moved around the tiny area, viciously scrubbing and cleaning the already immaculate kitchen that had never been dirty, but from the way Toriel was acting, one would have thought the kitchen was the most disgusting room in the whole universe.  

 

When Frisk finally got enough courage to ook up to stare at her mother, she noticed that Toriel’s hands were shaking badly and while her voice had an enraged edge to it, the goat goddess’ face was telling a different story.  Frisk gripped her knees and chew the corner of her lip, feeling the guilt begin to eat at her.  There were only a handful of times when Toriel had been scared like she was now and all those times had to do with something Frisk had done.

 

For instance, when Frisk was three years old, her mother finally decided to teach the little girl how to swim which was something Frisk had been begging Toriel to do since she saw the little humans do it during the festival one year.  The little demi-goddess had been so excited about the news that while her mother had been undressing, Frisk had quickly stripped herself of all her clothes and jumped into the small lake beside their home.  And instantly began drowning.  Toriel had jumped in after her only a few seconds later, half-naked and managed to grabbed Frisk before the calm waters took her.

 

And then there was the incident with the knife.  Late one night when she was about five years old, Frisk got hungry and went down to the kitchen for a midnight snack.  Her mother’s half eaten pie was still on the counter but the size was a little too intimidating for Frisk so she decided to cut a smaller piece for herself.  It was dark and the kitchen knife she blindly grabbed was a little too sharp and so when she tripped over her own feet she honestly didn’t feel the sharp blade cutting that huge gash in her arm.  And when the stinging pain started to kick in, she began to scream.  Toriel was at her side in a second.  Now Toriel always cuts her pies into nice little slices.

 

And then there was the time when Frisk climbed their tree while Toriel was only a few feet from said tree taking care of their little golden flower garden and every three minutes or so would look up to make sure Frisk was where she last saw her.  However, during a moment when Toriel was preoccupied with a stubborn weed, Frisk climbed too high.  One of the thinner branches that was supporting her weight broke and Frisk landed on her arm, breaking it and smashing some of teeth out of her head.  

 

Thank God for Toriel’s ability to heal injuries so quickly and effectively.  

 

That was only a few to name when Frisk had managed to hurt herself, but while each instance was different, one thing remained a constant factor:  Toriel’s face.  The goat goddess always had a look of pure horror on her face and each time Frisk saw it, she felt guilty and ashamed for being the cause of her mother’s distress nd now as she watched her mother moving around the house in a half-frenzy cleaning anything that was unfortunate enough to be in her way, the tiny demi-goddess felt the beginnings of a lump forming in her throat.   

 

She knew her mother was scared.  Angry but terrified, but….why?!  Why was Toriel so scared?  Unlike those other times, Frisk wasn’t hurt!  She didn’t break any bones, she wasn’t bleeding, there wasn’t even a scratch on her.  But….

 

But there was one person who did get hurt.  

 

“You hurt Sans’ feelings, mom.”

 

Toriel pause her half mumbled rant to stare at Frisk in disbelief.  The dish that was in the Goddess’ paw started to shake even more and suddenly Frisk had wished she hadn’t said anything….at least at that moment.  It would have probably been wiser to state that fact when her mother had calmed down, but Frisk couldn’t keep it to herself any longer.  

 

**_You want a joke?  How about you stare at a looking glass because you are the biggest joke in the whole universe, Sans._ **

 

Toriel’s comment had been...cruel.  Very cruel and so unlike the gentle and sweet mother Frisk had known her entire life and even though she knew her mother and Sans didn’t like each other and had more than a terrible past history, Frisk didn’t think that was a nice thing to say.  

 

Even  **_if_ ** Sans was normally a mean and evil God as Toriel described him as being, he wasn’t being mean to anybody during the party, strange sense of humor excluded.  And he never got mean or nasty even when Toriel started yelling at him, he remained calm.  He didn’t say a mean thing back to her.  He was polite.  He was being fake-polite, since nobody could really be sincerely polite at the person who was yelling at them, Frisk couldn’t kid herself on that, but he wasn’t flat-out insulting Toriel like Toriel did to him.  

 

But more importantly that all those things combined, the God of death even saved her from being crushed!  That’s not something a mean God would do!!!  

 

It was an act of confusing kindness, and while Frisk couldn’t quite understand why he did it, being a God who hated humans and all that, she planned to tell her mama she would have been crushed flat by a tower of terrified Gods and Goddesses if it weren’t for him.  Sans deserved that much.  

 

“Feelings?!”  Toriel shook her head and sat down at the table beside Frisk.  Her hands were trembling so bad now and her breathing was getting a little uneven.

 

“My child, that creature does not have feelings.  He is the very reason why humans die in such painful and miserable ways.  He is the reason why diseases and suffering exist in the human world.  He does not care about you.  He would sooner kill you than say hi to you!   Why he didn’t do it is I don’t know-he was probably waiting for me to come back so I could see it happen.” Toriel let out a string of nervous laughter before running a hand over the white fur on her head.  

 

Her hands were shaking so bad, Frisk could have sworn she heard the bones underneath all that fur rattle.  

 

Mom really wasn’t in the best of moods to discuss the issue of whether or not the immortals were as bad as the goddess was always saying they were, Frisk knew that much, but it...it wasn’t fair to Sans or to any of the other Gods and Goddesses that Toriel hated.  And after meeting most of the ones that Toriel spoke the harshest about: Alphys, Undyne, and Sans, Frisk just couldn’t see them as the human killers that Toriel described them as being during the war.  

 

They had all treated her so kindly:  Alphys had tried to calm down Undyne when Frisk first met her.  And then no more than ten minutes after meeting her, Undyne was so concerned about Frisk after that tower fell.  And Sans…

 

Sans saved her.  **** A simple yet true statement.  Why would a supposedly  **_vicious_ ** God of Death want to  **_save_ ** somebody?  And more importantly save the child of a Goddess he supposedly hated?  And to top it all of save the child of a Goddess he supposedly hated who happened to be human?

 

No, Frisk couldn’t let this go.  Even if these Gods and Goddesses had been mean in the past and unfairly killed a lot of humans didn’t mean they were like that now.  Maybe they had changed.  Maybe they felt remorse for the way they acted.  Toriel always said that humans are constantly changing for the better so why can’t immortals be the same way?  Maybe all they needed was a chance to show how sorry they were.  

 

And if Gods and Goddesses like Undyne, Alphys and Sans and many of the Gods and Goddesses that fought against Toriel in the war were as bloodthirsty as they were all those years ago, why didn’t they attacked Frisk and Toriel the very moment they stepped into the GREAT HALL?  It didn’t make any sense and Frisk wanted to ask her mother why.  But first and most importantly Frisk wanted her mother to know what Sans had done.  

 

“But mom!  When you left with the God of Science, the goddess Undyne made the other gods and goddesses form a tower and-”

 

Toriel snorted, her expression taking on a more….angered look and Frisk immediately shut her mouth.  Her mother never looked at her like that before and it rendered Frisk speechless.  

 

“You met Undyne too?!” and Toriel’s look of anger quickly turned back to terror as she look Frisk over.  “They didn’t hurt you or tell you something that hurt you or threatened you did they, my child?!”

 

Frisk thought about Undyne’s frightening entrance and the way she grabbed the demi-goddess roughly by the collar of her shirt and wisely decided not to tell Toriel as she shook her head.  

 

“No mama, they were all really nice to me and you know what Undyne told me?”

 

Toriel raised an eyebrow skeptically.  Frisk took a deep breath and began talking quickly wanting to get every word she could get in before Toriel stopped her.  But her quick speech almost began a babble, but luckily Toriel was used to that type of speech.  Frisk tended to babble when she got excited.  

 

“She told me that she encouraged people to stand up for themselves and the only reason for war was because those victims didn’t have the courage to listen to her influence so the bad humans only got crueler as they got older and when the war was over there was also a resolution that brought peace-”

 

“My child, do you remember our history lesson on human wars?”

 

Frisk paused at Toriel’s cold question as a foreign feeling of annoyance erupt into her chest.  There had been other times when Frisk had been annoyed with her mother:  going to bed when she wasn’t tired, being forced to drink snail juice and eating yucky vegetables, but this was the first time Frisk started to feel extremely frustrated with her mother.  Why wasn’t she listening?!  Toriel always told her that even if she didn’t agree with somebody’s opinion, it was always polite to hear somebody out just for the sake of keeping manners alive, but it seemed like today Toriel was forsaking that advice.  

 

But just the same Frisk paused in her speech and thought way back to that history lesson that happened many years ago.   The lesson, like every lesson Toriel didn’t like teaching but felt Frisk needed to know was short and only covered a general idea of what happened.   All Frisk knew was that human wars were often sparked by differences between two groups of people.   She didn’t like that lesson too much.  She didn’t like to think that the happy and welcoming and loving humans at the festivals were capable of killing each on something as minor as a disagreement.  

 

But Frisk remembered it well and so she nodded her head.  

 

Toriel nodded.  “And do you know how many wars there were when Undyne’s “influence” was in the Human Realm?”

 

Frisk looked down knowing where this was going, but she answered her mother because an answer was expected.  “I-I don’t k-know.”  She gritted her teeth as Toriel began tapping her fingers against the table harshly.  

 

“Over fourteen thousand wars, my child.  There were over fourteen thousand wars that happened under Undyne’s “influence.”  And how many wars has there been since Undyne left?”

 

Frisk continued to look down, feeling her cheeks get red.  She was losing this argument.  “N-none.”

 

Toriel bleated softly and sadly.  “I know you want to see the good in all people, my child, but the human realm is much better off without Undyne’s influence.  No wars, no huge groups of humans killing each other over petty matters.  Undyne simply encouraged humans to bring out their violent sides during conflicts.  And what have I always told you about settling conflicts?”

 

Frisk swallowed.  “Every conflict can be peacefully resolved.”

 

Toriel nodded.  “That’s right, my child.  There might be little spurts of violence in the Human Realm now and then, but there are no more wars.  Undyne hurt more humans than she helped.”

 

Frisk followed her mother’s example, but instead of tapping her fingers against the table, she rapped her knuckles on the hardwood.  Toriel was right, there hasn’t been a war since Undyne and all the other Gods and Goddesses were banned from the Human Realm...but…

 

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with standing up for yourself, mom.  When Undyne talked to me, she said that was her goal: she just wanted those humans to stand up for themselves.  I...I think she’s right,” Frisk looked up to stare at the Goddess in the eye.  “I think she really wanted to help them.”

 

There was a moment of silence between the mother and daughter before a sad smile spread over Toriel’s face.  The goat goddess slowly nodded her head.

 

“I agree, Frisk.  I think at one point Undyne was a good person.  Unfortunately she was rough and her messages of bravery were often misinterpreted by the humans, but with saying that I can’t deny that she really was trying to improve the lives of human.”

 

Frisk felt a small hopeful smile lift her lips.   **_Okay, mom understands Undyne is nice, now to move unto Sans-_ **

 

“But in the end whatever good spark she had died when she decided to mindlessly follow Asgore in his decision to mercilessly murder humanity,” Toriel’s voice turned icy and her eyes were stone, devoid of any tenderness.  “It did not matter in the slightest if the human were a  soldier, expecting mother, elderly person or child.  Undyne killed all humans that were unfortunate enough to get in her way.  That is the truth.  That was what she chose to become.  A murderer.  Just like Sans, just like Alphys, just like the many Gods and Goddesses you met today and just like my ex-husband.”

 

Toriel’s words sounded so final and it shattered Frisk’s tiny little smile of hope into a million pieces.  Toriel was right about that too.  Undyne chose to kill innocent humans, but if she hated humans so much like Toriel said, why had she been so worried when she thought Frisk had been crushed?  Why had Alphys been worried? And Sans….

 

Frisk didn’t look at her mother when she spoke next and her words were soft and unsure.  

 

“Maybe they want a second chance.  Maybe they want to make up for what they did.  Maybe they are sorry for what they’ve done.”

 

When Toriel didn’t respond Frisk cautiously looked up to see an exhausted look on the goddess’ face.  In her paws were three leather bags.   Frisk titled her head as her mother stared down at the bags.  

 

“Maybe you are right, my child.”

 

Frisk didn’t answer and Toriel let a small quiet laugh out.  

 

Toriel held out the pouches for Frisk to see.  “Here is the cure for  **_Sans’_ ** latest disease he created to  **_kill_ ** the humans,” The goat lady narrowed her eyes.  “Sans is the creator of every disease.  This newest disease is only a few weeks old.  Do you understand Sans is not a merciful God?”

 

And Frisk gave it one more very last and desperate try. 

 

“But mom how can he be an evil God, pure evil if he-”

 

“Just because somebody is nice one day, doesn’t excuse the way they act the rest of the year.  He may have been kind and polite to you today but he keeps doing terrible things to innocent people, but luckily Wingdings Gaster has found the cure.”

 

**_Wingdings Gaster found a cure?  The same God who created the black goo that ate up all those humans during the war?!_ **

 

Almost as if reading her thoughts Toriel nodded her head.  

 

“That is why you are right, my child.  If this God can change and help humanity after what he has done during the war then I believe there is a chance for redemption for MOST of the other immortals too.  But until I see effort similar to the God of Science’s I ask that if we are ever invited up Mount Ebott again, which-” Toriel let out an embarrassed laugh, “-might not be for a long time thanks to my poor behavior,  I want you to stay away from Immortals like Alphys and Undyne-”

 

“But mom-”

 

“Just until I feel they have proven themselves remorseful for their actions.  Promise me you will not speak to them until that time.”

 

Frisk swallowed and felt like she were betraying the two kindly Goddesses when she nodded her head.  “I...I promise, but-” she quickly added.  “I can talk to them afterwards right?”

 

Toriel smiled.  “Of course.”

 

**_Alright.  So maybe over time mom will see-_ **

 

“And promise me if you ever see Sans again you will immediately run away from him.”

 

“But mom, he-”

 

“PROMISE ME, FRISK!” 

 

Toriel’s voice boomed in the little kitchen and maybe it was Frisk’s imagination, but she could have sworn she saw the plates shake.  Immediately she nodded her head.  

 

“I promise.”

 

Toriel sighed.  “Good girl.  I’m sorry about yelling, but...he is a dangerous creature, Frisk.  I know you can’t see that, but I’ve seen what he had done first hand.  I know how cruel he can be.  Trust me.”

 

When Frisk couldn’t think of a thing to say, Toriel cleared her throat and began piling the leather bags on the kitchen table counter.

 

“Now I need you to do an errand for me, my child.  This new cure needs to be given to the head doctors of those infected villages and please let them know this cure is a gift from the God of Science.”

 

Frisk swallowed, still feeling the effects of their last conversation before speaking.

 

“You aren’t gonna come to them in their dreams this time?”

 

Toriel shook her head.  “Unfortunately this cure requires them to have this special seeds and I need you to deliver them along with directions on what to expect.”

Frisk’s interest perked up.  “Special seeds?  What type of plants are they?”

 

“Purple and white flowers.”

 

The demi-goddess laughed.  “Oh!  Purple and white?  Sort of like you then, huh mama?”

 

Frisk wasn’t sure why her mother’s face got so red, but she thought better than to ask.  

  
  


*************************************************************************************************

 

**_The only way to enter the UNDERWORLD was located on MOUNT EBOTT or rather at the very edge of the mountain’s peak._ **

 

**_If a God or Goddess wished to visit the UNDERWORLD or had decided to accept an invitation to be a guest of the Gods of Death, they simply had to travel past the God King’s home and once they reached the edge of the giant mountain, they would find a calm, sparkling and crystal clear river._ **

 

**_Only the river wasn’t going horizontally.  If a human saw the “river” they would instantly think “waterfall.”  And then the human would proceed to stare in amazement at how calm the “waterfall” was.  It had no violent waves or dangerous currents threatening to pull them in before they free fell to their death.  The river were motionless and the lack of sound might one one thinking that what they were seeing was merely a painting._ **

 

**_But to a God or Goddess they knew it was only a river that had been turned at a ninety-degree angle.  More importantly, the river was the only way to enter the dark world where the two Gods of Death, Sans and Papyrus, not only lived but kept all the SOULS of every single human they have reaped over the centuries._ **

 

**_And once the God or Goddess reached the vertical river, they would see a small wooden boat docked on the last bit of land before the water began.  And in that boat would be a black cloaked figure, known as the River Person, silently waiting for a traveler.  If the immortal had an invitation, they simply needed to show the River Person that invitation and the hooded figure would nod their head and allow them on their boat.  If they wanted to visit the UNDERWORLD unannounced they were expected to give their names and what business they had with the Gods to the silent figure.  The River Person would leave with their boat to relay the message to Sans or Papyrus and based on their answers, the hooded figure would either deny or grant them access into the vessel._ **

 

**_If they were granted access, the River Person would take them to the UNDERWORLD, which was located hundreds of miles below the base of MOUNT EBOTT.  The River began traveling outside the mountain, but sometime during the travel downward, the area would darken as the waters would lead the little vessel into a wide gaping hole pulling the travelers inside Mount Ebott._ **

 

**_And even though the river was essentially a vertical drop, the ride down to the UNDERWORLD was slow, almost as though the passengers were taking a leisurely boat ride on a lazy river._ **

 

**_But despite the relaxing feel of the slow moving river, the waters were anything but safe.  The older God of Death, Sans made it as hard as possible to get to his home without his guests feeling uncomfortable as it was in his nature to make all beings feel uncomfortable._ **

 

**_He made sure to curse the river with a small bit of his well-known magic.  Immortal or not, if a being were to step in these waters uninvited they would die.  And the death magic that was coursing through the water didn’t discriminate._ **

 

**_When Undyne, the Goddess of Conflict and Resolution, went to visit the younger God of Death during her one and only trip and earning the title of being the only Immortal ever to actually be a willing guest to the UNDERWORLD, Papyrus told her the waters would kill Sans and himself too should they fall in._ **

 

**_“ WE MUST TAKE ALL THIS PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT THOSE DEFENSELESS HUMAN SOULS!”_ **

 

**_The Goddess had nodded her head uneasily and kept her hands inside the boat, not believing for a second that the older God of Death cursed this river with his magic to “protect” the humans’ SOULS, but she choose not to speak her opinions out loud out of respect for her friend.  And out of fear his brother might be listening._ **

 

**_But regardless of why the Older God of Death cursed the waters, only one thing was certain:  the tiny wooden vessel was the only transportation that could withstand the curse as it was blessed both by Gods of Death._ **

**_*************************************************************************************************_ **

 

“BROTHER, PLEASE DON’T BE UPSET.”   
  


Sans gripped the sides of the boat as the River Person quietly and oh so slowly rowed their boat downward taking their two passengers to their home.   ****

 

Papyrus sounded upset himself and that further enraged the older God, but he tried his hardest to remain calm.  For Papyrus’ sake he would keep his temper under control and so turning around, Sans offered Papyrus the best smile he could managed, failing to realize the lights in his sockets were still glowing a heated red and his body was trembling slightly from obvious rage.  Papyrus saw the display of poorly hidden anger on his brother’s face and nervously started to tap his fingers together.  

 

“ don’t worry ‘bout me Pap.  i’m not upset.”

 

**_no, i’m not upset….i’m infuriated,_ ** he thought as he started digging his claws into the side of the boat, feeling them sink into the hardwood as if the material were nothing more than hot butter. 

 

The River Person winced as the wood started to make an unpleasant creaking sound and gripped the long paddle in their hands tightly before pausing their rowing to turn back towards the two Gods of Death, halting the journey.  Despite the vertical direction the boat was going in, the vessel wouldn’t move unless the River Person was paddling it downward.

 

“Tralalala,” their soft and gentle voice sang out, unafraid and emotionless at the same time.  “Possessions are a part of a person’s SOUL too.”

 

Sans shot his servant a cold glare.

 

“why don’t you keep those stupid songs to yourself and keep paddling?” Sans hissed viciously, but all the same retracted his claws out of the creature’s boat to glare at the water instead.  The River Person turned back around, undisturbed, and began paddling again. 

 

While the two Gods of Death did not know exactly what type of creature the River Person was or gender for that matter, since they always had their face covered with their black hood (a very fashionable being in both Gods’ opinion), Sans had taken them in as a servant shortly after the all the Gods and Goddesses made the decision to keep the Human SOULS stored in underneath the mountain.  Which meant Sans and Papyrus were to live underneath the mountain.  And unlike the Temmies, Moldsmals, and Vegatoids who eagerly served any God and Goddess who desired having servants privately working in their homes, the River Person, much like Sans’ other servants, didn’t seem terrified of the prospect of entering the UNDERWORLD.  

 

It was a little shocking and it always made Sans wonder what happened in these SOULS’ lives to make them so immune to the idea of death, but he wasn’t complaining.   Going into the Human Realm and jumping from one village to another and reaping SOULS from dying humans was hard enough.  Managing the millions of SOULS he and his brother had gathered, along with maintaining their own little world was even harder.  Sans needed all the help he could get no matter how odd or...dumb his servants were.  And compared to the other servants, his workers were indeed were indeed an unusual batch.  But they were loyal and that was the important thing.  

 

As the boat traveled downgetting closer and closer to the black hole that would lead them inside the actual mountain, Sans felt his body tense up.  

 

The artificial light from the top of the mountain never reached Sans and Papyrus’ home in the UNDERWORLD but Asgore had a “brilliant” idea to compensate for that.  Instead of using more and unnecessary magic to light up an entire other world where only two Gods and their servants lived, why not just use the light from the Blue Echo Flowers?

 

Yeah, why not?  When the idea was first presented centuries ago when the UNDERWORLD was nothing more than an agreed upon plan, Papyrus didn’t mind in the least and actually felt honored that the King of all Immortals was going to personally plant the million of Echo Flowers in their home himself.  As for Sans…

If a mortal or immortal were told that one of the two Gods of Death were terrified of the dark, that being would laugh.  But Sans didn’t say anything.  During those years when Sans and Papyrus were getting the feel for their “purpose” in life, Sans thought his irrational fear would end and so he didn’t bring up the fact.  Unfortunately his fear didn’t dissolve or disappear.  In fact, living in the dark world beneath the Mountain with only the weak blue glow of those pathetic flowers and the hundreds of candles that were constantly light in their home, only seemed to fuel Sans’ fear.  

 

As the boat entered the cave-like hole, evening itself out horizontally for a second before titling vertical again, all the bright artificial bright light from the outside world disappeared completely  Sans started to breath heavily and gripped his brother’s hand when Papyrus gently placed it on his shoulder. Sans hated this part of the journey.  

 

Granted, it was only for a few seconds of pitch blackness before the glowing blue lights of the millions Echo Flowers that were planted on walls of the hollowed out Mountain illuminated their own little world, but Sans couldn’t help but feel that childish burst of fear explode in his SOUL.  

 

Papyrus tightened his grip lovingly on his sibling's shoulder and perhaps as a means to distract his brother, started their conversation again. 

 

“I’M JUST WORRIED THAT THE GODDESS OF LIFE MAY HAVE DISTRESSED YOU WITH HER THOUGHTLESS WORDS.  SHE WAS BEING SO UNCHARACTERISTICALLY MEAN,” Papyrus said.  

 

Once the blue lights hit his face, destroying his unspoken fear, Sans growled lowly at his brother’s words.    **_uncharacteristically mean?!  that woman has always been a snippy, know-it-all fat cow_ ** , Sans thought.   **_i wasn’t being rude to her kid!  hell i even saved the little brat!_ ** Red smoke started to pour out of his socket.   **_if it weren’t for me, that little brat would have been crushed by the very gods and goddesses that bitch entrusted her life with.  toriel should be kissing my feet!_ **

 

But Sans kept that opinion to himself as he casually shrug at Papyrus.  The boat evened out again as the river became horizontal for good, letting both Gods know they had finally entered the UNDERWORLD.  Only half a mile left of the boat ride left before they reached land and be that much closer to their house.  And Sans wanted nothing more than to go home and forget this day.

 

He wanted to forget that goat bitch’s bitter words, forget the look of hatred she gave him before she tugged her kid away like Sans was gonna hurt her or something and forget that the first unrelated person to ever kiss him was the child of the very Goddess who hated him with every fiber of her SOUL.  

 

At the memory of her unexpected kiss re-entered Sans’ mind, the red smoke disappeared and a small blue blush colored his white cheekbones.  He reached up and placed his hand on the part of the skull she kissed.   **_stupid little brat,_ ** he thought to himself, but even as he mentally insulted the young demi-goddess, he couldn’t help but be impressed with the kid’s sense of humor, their gutsy little act of anger she showed him after he made that empty death-threat and then to top it all off her sudden and impulsive act of affection.  Not even full-grown Immortals have ever been that social or affectionate with him.  

 

And with that realization, Sans wished he hadn’t attended the party.  Truthfully he had only attended this particular party to upset the Goddess of Life and scared her kid to death (pun intended), but then the kid didn’t get scared and then after talking to her he sort of forgot about Toriel until she came stomping in his direction and….and he wished he hadn’t felt happy when he spent time with the demi-goddess.  

 

**_i knew i was pathetic, but actually enjoying the company of a small child because she showed me attention?  because she wasn’t scared of me?  this is a new low, even for me.  i’m worse than endogeny.  at least with that dumb mutt you have to play fetch with ‘em before they like you,_ **  he thought but before he could indulge himself more with details about how deplorable his life was, Papyrus’ loud and gleeful laughter broke through his black thoughts.

 

“BROTHER LOOK UP! NYEH HEH HEH!”

 

Sans looked up and instantly felt his growing depression melt away. The red lights in his sockets became white again as he let out a small and rough, but undeniably please round of laughter.  

 

“ heh heh heh...well at least somebody’s having a good day.”

 

When Undyne came to visit Papyrus’ home many years ago before the war had started,  she was startled and a little scared with what she saw when she looked up as the boat continued rowing her and Papyrus to land.  Floating high above the death waters in a sluggish and aimless fashion were the millions of SOULS the two brothers had reaped over the years and despite the  glow from the flowers that gave the SOULS a bluish tint, all of them were a dull gray, devoid of their original colors.  

 

But today there was an exception.  The River Person halted their paddling once again and together all three of the black-clad beings stared up at a single tiny little SOUL among the millions of gray ones.  Only this one particular SOUL wasn’t so gray anymore.

 

The SOUL’s  gray exterior was beginning to flicker into a beautiful green color.  The green color glowed brightly and powerfully among the grayness that surrounded it and even though the three Immortals had seen this happen to thousands upon thousands of SOULS in the past, it always rendered them speechless.

 

After a few minutes of watching the SOUL flicker from gray to green until the green color thankfully won out, it was the River Person who spoke first.  “Tralalala….some things never become less wondrous.”

 

Sans let out a quiet hum, silently agreeing with the hooded figure’s small but truthful song before he pointed up at the green SOUL high above them and snapped his fingers.  The older God was a little sad to see the beautiful green become a light blue as he encased the delicate little thing with his magic, but if the God of Death were lucky, it would only be for a few seconds.  

 

He beckoned the SOUL to come closer with his finger and through his magic he felt the SOUL’s fear and as a result the SOUL weakly started to fight against him.  He didn’t blame the little thing.  After years of not remembering anything and being stuck in a literal limbo, Sans would have been surprised if a SOUL wasn’t completely terrified when they finally “woke up” and remembered who they were.  

 

Memory Loss.  It was a sad side-effect of death and varied for every SOUL.   Some SOULs remembered who they were only seconds after they passed away and enter the UNDERWORLD, while some SOULs needed a few hours or days before they regain their memories.  Then there are those who needed a few months.  There were even some that couldn’t remember who they were for years.  

 

Sans and Papyrus didn’t understand why some SOULs remember who they are more quickly than others, but regardless once they remember,  the SOULS were always terrified of their new home.  And Sans always had to calm them down.  

 

**_hello friend, welcome to the underworld,_ ** Sans sent the message towards the little SOUL through his magic and as expected the SOUL began to shake and fight even more and even though Sans could have easily overpowered the weak thing, he didn’t.  The little SOUL had already gone through so much already.

 

**_hey...it’s okay to be scared, but you can’t remain here, friend, now that you’re aware of who you are we need to get you someplace else.  if you stay here, you’ll go insane._ **

 

When the SOUL continued to fight, Sans sighed tiredly, knowing he had to use a different method.  

 

The older God closed his sockets and in an instant he saw the SOUL’s entire life flash in his mind.  Many many many years ago a boy was born.  Then the boy became a man.  A man who took sand and created glass from it.   A man who fell in love with a woman and had a daughter together.  A man who died shortly after his wife died.  A man who was now only a green SOUL too scared to do anything but fight.  And think of his wife.  

 

Unfortunately the man’s wife’s SOUL was still gray, floating among the millions of other gray SOULs in this area and couldn’t leave until she remembered who she was.  But….

 

**_your daughter is waiting for you._ ** **_so is your father and mother and sister and so much of your family.  let me take you to a place where you can see them again._ **

 

At the mention of his family, the SOUL started to descend towards the boat until he paused again.  The SOUL had been silent up to this point, but now Sans could hear it’s thoughts silently chanting a word over and over again:   **_Marigold_ ** .  The name of his wife.  The love that was surging through the SOUL was nearly overwhelming to Sans.  

 

**_Marigold.  Marigold.  Marigold.  Marigold._ **

 

And suddenly Sans remembered this man.  After his wife died, the poor fellow couldn’t sleep or eat and barely drank.  He was withering away, suffering and making his family suffer until one night Sans decided the man wouldn’t snap out of his depression.  And so he reaped him, the man coming willingly, almost peacefully.  Sans always hated those types of SOULS the worst.  The willing ones.

 

The humans who found the man the next day claimed he died of malnutrition, but the man’s daughter who lived a full and happy life before Sans reaped her, claimed her father died from a “broken heart.”  Sans agreed with her.  

 

The older God sighed again.   **_you’ll have to wait for your marigold, but she’ll come eventually.  trust me, i know how things work around here.  but right now you need to be with your daughter again.  you couldn’t live for her when you were alive, but you got a second chance to make it up._ **

 

Using guilt on the SOULS was a bit cruel, but it was by far the most effective way for them to cooperative.  After a few seconds, the green SOUL allowed itself to be pulled down by Sans’ magic and once Papyrus had the pulsing thing in his two hands, Sans let the SOUL go.  It turned back into it’s beautiful green color.

 

As his magic left the green SOUL completely, Sans felt a mixture of relieved disappointment.  He was glad he was no longer forced to feel how much love the man had for his wife.  But at the same time the warmth of that love was gone too leaving Sans with a strange feeling of...want.

 

**_must be hungry,_ ** Sans thought knowing what he really wanted, but wasn’t going to dive into those thoughts again.  At least not today.  He was already depressed about the idea of taking any sort of attention he could get.  He didn’t have the luxury of adding more to his plate for the day.

 

The River Person began paddling again, and Sans watched his brother with a small genuine smile on his face.  Papyrus’ grin couldn’t get bigger as he started to stroke the SOUL with his thumbs, mumbling comforting words about where they would take him.  About who was waiting for him.   And when they finally reached land, Sans hopped of the boat carelessly into the bare but mushy ground.  There was no grass.  Only the millions of Echo Flowers that lit the area up revealing two road.  Following the road to the right would lead to the CASTLE, which was now the home to all the servants.  A little further down was Sans and Papyrus’ home.  

 

The road on the left would lead to everything else.  Sans turned to his brother.

 

“ look paps, i’m a bit tired from today’s events.  mind if you take care of this one by yourself?”

 

From the look on Papyrus’ face, Sans was bracing himself for a lecture on his laziness and while he could usually take Papyrus’ scolding with good humor, he didn’t think he could handle it today.  Papyrus must have seen something in Sans’ expression that told him that because the younger God merely nodded his head.  

 

“I DO BELIEVE YOU ARE CORRECT, BROTHER.  GET SOME REST AND LATER I WILL PERSONALLY VISIT THE GODDESS OF LIFE AND DEMAND AN APOLOGY FOR HER REMARKS AGAINST YOU.”

 

Sans felt his sockets widened.  “ paps, i don’t think that’s a good idea-”

 

Papyrus stood up straight, still nursing the little green SOUL in his hands.  

 

“NONSENSE BROTHER!  I BELIEVE THIS SILLY LITTLE FEUD BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU HAS GONE ON FOR TOO LONG!”

 

Sans rubbed his eyes feeling the exhaustion hit him.  No matter what happened, Papyrus always seemed to believe there would come a day when Toriel and Asgore would get back together and she and Sans would finally be friends.  And Sans never had it in him to explain why Toriel would never forgive either Asgore or himself.  

 

“look, pap, i-”

 

“I THINK ONCE SHE LEARNS YOU SAVED HER HUMAN CHILD’S LIFE SHE WILL BE MUCH WARMER TOWARDS YOU!”

 

**_warmer? she’s probably faint if you told her i saved her,_ ** Sans paused as another thought entered his head.   **_her brat might tell her what happened-_ ** and as soon as the thought started to form in his head, Sans snorted inwardly.   **_yeah, somebody standing up for the god of death?_ **

 

The idea was almost laughable.   **_who would defend death?_ **

 

But just as he thought that, he unintentionally and shamefully answered his own sarcastic question.   **_the same person who would kiss death might defend death._ ** Sans shook those thoughts away.   ****

 

“alright brother,” Sans said, admitting defeat.  “just let me know when you decide to go.  i want to come and be there to defend myself.”

 

The smile that light up Papyrus’ face was as bright as the sun.  “YES!  YOU AND ME WILL COME UP WITH AN ARGUMENT ON WHY TORIEL SHOULD NOT BE ANGRY WITH YOU ANYMORE!”

 

Sans smiled, but Papyrus was too excited to notice how fabricated it was.  “good idea, paps, but an argument like that would take a few months, maybe years to plan out.”

 

Papyrus nodded.  “OF COURSE BROTHER!  WE CAN’T GO THERE UNPREPARED AND LIKE ONE OF MY INGENIOUS PUZZLES IT WILL TAKE TIME TO PERFECT!”

 

“yep, but why don’t we put that on hold until i get my rest?”  

 

Papyrus nodded his head again.  “NATURALLY!  WELL I WILL SEE YOU WHEN I GET HOME AND THEN WE’LL EAT!  I COULDN’T EVEN STOMACH ANY OF THE GREASY FOOD FROM THE PARTY.”

 

“yeah either could i.  mind makin’ dinner tonight?”

 

The lights in Papyrus’ sockets nearly glowed.  “OF COURSE!  UNDYNE SHOWED ME A NEW COOKING METHOD.  I’M DYING TO TRY IT OUT.”

 

Sans blinked, his mouth becoming a straight line.  And then after a minute, his shoulders started to shake.  Papyrus’ sockets widened and the white lights in them shrinked when he realized his mistake.

 

“SANS-” he said in a warning voice.

 

“ heh heh heh-”

 

“BROTHER DON’T-”

 

“i’m  **_dying-_ ** ”

 

Papyrus groaned as Sans started to erupt into hard laughter.  “ i’m  **_dying_ ** to try it out?  good one bro!  heh heh heh!   **_dying_ ** to try it out!”

 

Papyrus’ frown begrudgingly turned into a smile before the God decided he had enough of his cackling started walking down the road on the left side.  “I’LL SEE YOU AT HOME BROTHER!”

 

Still chuckling Sans waved at his brother’s back.  “wake me when the food is ready.”

 

And with that he teleported himself into their large home sighing  with immediate relief as the bright orange glow of the hundreds of candles that lit up his house greeted him.  

 

No matter how many times he entered his home he couldn’t help but feel a bout of silly and childish terror erupt in his SOUL at the thought of coming home to a dark house.   Even though their house servant, Madame Snowdrake, always lit every candle in the Gods’ home at Sans’ request, Sans was always terrified she would forget-

 

**_(such a pathetic fear, matched him just perfectly)_ **

 

-and he would be engulfed in darkness.  But like always, his fear was for nothing as the beautiful orange glow of the tiny dancing flames lit up his home.

 

Sans sighed and stared at the walls, the moving shadows of the little flames giving him a serene, almost hypnotically peaceful feeling.  

 

**_no place like home_ ** , Sans thought, no longer sure if he was being sarcastic or not whenever he used that phrase.  

 

As he made his way up the stairs to his room he listened for any noises that would tell him if Madame Snowflake was still cleaning or dusting their home and when silence greeted him, he smiled and hurried up the stairs, the candles leading the way.

 

Once he made it to his room, he plopped on his bed and looked out the window and saw the CASTLE, and instantly wished he hadn’t done that as that feeling of longing the green SOUL unintentionally gave him came over him again.

 

Once upon a time, shortly after the Goddess Toriel realized her  **_gift_ ** for crafting life and created humanity,  Sans and his brother discovered their “purpose” in life was taking the SOULS from dying humans.  

 

Sans clearly remembered the saddened look on the goat goddess’ face when she realized her creations were not meant to live forever and Sans and Papyrus’ purpose was needed.  She made strong SOULS but weak bodies.  Temporary bodies.  Bodies that got sick.  Bodies that aged.  Bodies that could be broken so easily….

Yeah death needed to be part of the human cycle.    A caretaker was needed to reap and watch over the human SOULS and her magic wasn’t built for taking on the task of both jobs.  Sans and Papyrus’ magic was more than suited for the task.

 

And during the first few years of humanity’s creation, both Gods had a house on top of Mount Ebott along with all the other Gods and Goddesses and there was a small area on the mountain that was dedicated for the Human SOULS.  One part of it was for the gray SOULS in limbo and the other part of the area was for when the SOULS began remembering who they were.  

 

Toriel came every so often to visit the gray SOULS and Sans allowed it.  She didn’t like the fact he told her she wasn’t allowed to touch the SOULS, but she listened and respected his wishes.  

 

And then she stopped coming when the SOULS didn’t respond to her voice and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get them to remember who they were.  Sans understood why she stopped coming.  At one point he had tried  what she had done.  There were so many times where he had tried to pull the SOULS out of their limbo state, but after failing so many times and having no results….it got to him.  It hurt.  So it was best to just let the SOULS remember on their own time.  Hurts less for all parties involved.

 

But as the years continued, the SOULS began to pile up and room was getting scarce.  So the brothers were told they had to live underneath the mountain along with the human SOULs they collected to better watch over them.

 

It was actually the perfect place.  There was an endless amount of room inside and far underneath the mountain and it was protected by the Immortals’ magic and so Sans and Papyrus eagerly agreed to the idea.  

 

It’s almost laughable now that at one point Sans actually felt like some sort of king ruling over his own little “kingdom”.  As the older brother and the more powerful out of the two of them, it became an unspoken rule among the two Gods of Death that Sans was in charge.  And one of the first things Sans wanted to build after they created the UNDERWORLD in a way that fitted the needs of the SOULS was a small castle.

 

Sans honestly couldn’t believe how stupid he had been during his first years as the God of Death.  During those years he believed there was going to be more Gods and Goddesses who would discover that their talents would suit and serve the UNDERWORLD.  And so he built a castle where they could all live in together.  

 

Like one big family.

 

And right at the entrance of the CASTLE was the throne room where he actually imagined he would sit to greet all his guests.  All his friends.   **_So stupid_ ** .  He even created the damn thing.  A golden throne with red velvet cushions and blue gemstones decorating it.  And then he did something even more laughable and pathetic if that were possible.  He made a smaller matching throne to sit beside his throne.  

 

But as the years passed, reality shattered his illusion. There were no Gods or Goddess with skills similar to his and so the CASTLE remained empty.   He had no friends.  As time continued, the Gods and Goddesses almost seemed...to fear  him.  They weren’t afraid of Papyrus who not only WASN’T feared, but had a friend too:  Undyne.  But she only visited once.  

 

Sans didn’t understand why all the Gods and Goddesses were afraid of him.  He never did anything to them and he always tried to be so friendly towards them, and as a result of not knowing why he was given nervous smiles, Sans began to...play the role of the scary God.  They wanted to be afraid of him?  Fine.  He could do that.  And so he began saying things with double meanings that may or may not include hidden threats, he “accidentally” touched flowers and plant life just to show all those other immortals he could kill anything on a whim and while he didn’t understand why his pitch-black stare was so unnerving, he always used it.  

 

He knew he was becoming bitter, but for all his disappointments and shattered dreams, there was one downfall that hit him the hardest:  seeing that smaller throne remain empty throughout all those years.  Day after day, month after month, year after year Sans came into the CASTLE and the first thing that greeted him was that empty throne sitting beside his own.  

 

Seeing it gather dust was....

 

And one day Sans gave his servants the CASTLE to live in while he and Papyrus moved into the servants old house.  The change stunned the servants, but luckily Papyrus was happy about the transition.  

 

But after the move, Sans felt a little bit better, but every so often when he stared at the CASTLE, which was now the Servants’ home, he couldn’t help but think about that empty throne.  

 

Sighing Sans went to bed and pulled the covers over his head.  The God tried to ignore the ghost lingerings of love the Green SOUL had surged through his body.

 

He couldn’t.

*******************************************************************************************************

As Papyrus walked home the River Person was waiting for him.  In their hand was a scroll and they handed it wordlessly to the younger God of Death.

 

Papyrus opened it and grinned when he saw the note was from the God of Science.  

 

**_Greetings Papyrus,_ **

**_I am pleased to inform you that the Goddess of Life has given the antidote to the humans.  The disease should be destroyed within two days._ **

Papyrus paused to let out a small self-satisfied fit of laughter.  

 

When the God of Science first came to him a few days ago to ask if he wanted to help him with an experiment that could destroy this latest disease plaguing the Human Realm, Papyrus had happily said yes even though Wingdings’ unusually request of keeping the experiment a secret from Sans was a little uncomfortable.  

 

And unfair.  This latest disease was the strongest one yet and Sans had been concerned that if Toriel didn’t find a cure soon enough, there were gonna be a lot of humans who would have to be reaped.  But even though it hurt Papyrus to watch the humans suffer Sans told him to wait before they did anything.  And it paid off.  When Papyrus gave the antidote to that precious little human child, the effects were instantaneous.  

 

Sans would have been thrilled much like all the other times a cure was found for those horrible diseases.  But all the same, Papyrus respected the scientist’s wishes and remained silent about Wingdings’ cure and his own involvement.  

 

Papyrus continued reading.

 

**_Unfortunately I am a little concerned for your brother’s state.  After today’s incident with the Goddess of Life, I feel we should cheer him up.  Please stop by my home tomorrow at your earliest convenience.  I have created something I’m sure will put him in a better mood._ **

 

**_Sincerely,_ **

**_Wingdings_ **

 

Papyrus’ smile couldn’t get bigger.  He turned towards the River Persona and pointed at the note.

 

“TAKE A LESSON FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!  JUST BECAUSE SOMEBODY SEEMS COLD DOESN’T MEAN THEY ARE ON THE INSIDE.”

 

And with that Papyrus rushed home to cook dinner.  

***************************************************************************************************

The River Person watched silently as their master rushed away from them.

 

“Tralalala...some things are not what they seem...some things are exactly what they seem….and some things are both.”

 

And with that the River Person rowed back up the mountain.  Just on the off chance somebody actually wanted to visit the UNDERWORLD.

 

*************************************************************************************************

 

It was the middle of the night when Frisk woke up to the sounds of something tapping her window.  

 

Groggily she rubbed her eyes and still in a dream-like daze turned to look outside her window.  And when she saw her late night visitor, all the sleep left her as a huge smile erupted on her face.

 

She quietly tiptoed to the window, hoping she wouldn’t wake Toriel up as she opened her window.

 

“ Thlipsi?!”  What are you doing out here?”

 

The little God nervously looked around before he shot Frisk an adorable smile.  

 

“Do you think you could sneak out for a few minutes?”

 

**_Never promised mama I wouldn’t talk to Thlipsi,_ ** Frisk thought as she hopped out her window.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehehehehe...Frisk is such a bad girl ain't she? ^^


	6. Two Gifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, sorry about that late update! We want to thank you for all the love and support you have given us and thank you for your patience! <3

The short god and the tiny demi-goddess sat at the edge of the small lake in silence.  Frisk had her feet submerged in the cold water.  She smiled softly to herself and threw her head back as a refreshing wind playfully danced through her hair and gently caressed her face.  

 

It was such a pretty night and normally if Frisk didn’t have her lessons the next day, she could have usually talked her mom into making a small fire behind the house as the sun went down so they could stay up late.  

 

On those nights, Frisk and Toriel would spend a good portion of the night  telling each other made-up stories until the sun came up and then both could sleep the day away.  The tales Frisk told to her mother were just retellings of love stories the other humans have told her, but surprisingly the Goddess of Life was quite the horror storyteller and many of those tales always sent a delighted shiver down Frisk’s spine.  

 

They were often filled with some of the most terrifying creatures imaginable, Toriel spared no details with describing them, and of course all the heroes in these stories who faced these unspeakable terrors always won.  However, as it was the Goddess of Life, in these tales the make-believe heroes NEVER killed.  Instead the heroes used their wits instead of violence and could always find a way to trap or befriending these creatures instead of killing them.  They were tales where nobody had to die. 

 

Frisk liked those stories a lot and as she sat with Thlipsi, she wondered that if there would be a time in the near future where it wouldn’t just be her mama and her telling each other stories.  

 

“I’m sorry, Frisk.”

 

The god’s sad and discouraged voice instantly made Frisk open her eyes, halting the image of seeing her mother,  Thlipsi and herself sitting around a small blazing fire.  When she turned to look at him, her initial delight in seeing her new friend was quickly beginning to fade into concern.   

 

Thlipsi was hunched over, his feet dangling just above the water and he was staring intensely at the gentle waves of the lake.  Frisk frowned.  

 

“What do you have to be sorry about?”

 

The young God sucked in a breath and finally turned towards Frisk, puffing up his chest, and trying his hardest to look manly and tough.  If he didn’t have that sad and disappointed look on his face, Frisk would have found his attempts at manliness adorable and no doubt would have tried flirting with him, like she did with the many human boys that tried to pull off the same look. Truthfully, she might have even tried talking him into flexing his tail, but as she looked at his expression, not to mention his troubling words she came to the realization that now probably wasn’t  the best time for that.

 

“I shouldn’t have left you.”

 

Frisk blinked, feeling her confusion grow.  “Left me?”

 

Thlipsi nodded.  “Yeah, if I hadn’t left to get more food, the God of Death wouldn’t have even thought about approaching you.  I could have scared him off and your mother wouldn’t have taken you away from the party.  She must be so angry with me…” he said, his voice becoming more heavy with each word.  “And now I have to sneak here every night to see you.”

 

He sighed heavily and in Frisk’s opinion a little too dramatically.  

 

“What’s happening now...right here and now….that’s going to be our friendship Frisk.  Hidden.  Never to be exposed.  It will be forever disapproved by your mother all because of my stupid actions.”  

 

Frisk raised an eyebrow.   

 

“What?”

 

The God nodded his head, completely unaware that Frisk’s concern look was rapidly changing into a more amused expression.  He didn’t catch the slight snicker she let out as he continued his heartfelt speech.

 

“Please understand I’m not ashamed that you’re a human, in fact I don’t even care about, but your mother….she already had a negative view of immortals because of the….war and I made it worse when I didn’t protect you.”

 

**_Don’t laugh, Frisky,_ ** Frisk thought to herself but knew she was losing when she felt the corners of her lips starting to curl up.  She bit down on them, concentrating on the slight pain it gave her and almost regained her neutral expression until Thlispi sighed once again, this time way too dramatically.  Frisk lost it.  

 

She let out a LOUD snort of laughter causing the forlorn God to blink out of his depressed state and into a more baffled and startled one. 

 

And as she laughed an array of different emotions started hitting the demi-goddess and the first and more recognizable emotion was guilt.   She felt bad for laughing.  Even though Thlipsi seemed like he practiced that speech and really truly BELIEVED he was to blame for her mother’s unkind behavior, his over dramatic presentation was...funny.  Plain and simple.  It was just funny.  Granted, Frisk could see why Thlipsi thought their friendship might have suffered a blow, thanks in large to her mother’s….ungraceful exit, but...his expressions...and the way his chest was still puffed up…

 

It really was too much!  Maybe it wouldn’t be so funny if he had started out by asking what the state of their friendship was at the current moment instead of assuming he’d have to steal out like a bandit each night and using such a theatrical approach…

 

**_He’s so dramatic and romantic_ ** , Frisk thought and instantly felt herself blush, the thought killing off a majority of her laughter.

 

Alright, maybe Thlipsi’s speech did amuse her but there was a more indescribable feeling surging through the demi-goddess.  Yes the God was being silly, but at the same time, she couldn’t deny she felt...flattered about a person who would willingly sneak out of their house JUST TO SEE HER, and then apologize for something that wasn’t even his fault and then declare that he would take it upon himself to sneak out of his home each night just to see her.  Yes, Frisk could definitely feel her face get redder  and so she quickly looked away, hoping it was too dark for Thlipsi to see the impact his “over-dramatic” but sweet speech did to her.

 

After a few short seconds, Frisk was able to regain her composure.

 

“First off, I can protect myself, thank you very much and more importantly my mother isn’t angry.  She....” Frisk trailed off and frowned trying to find the right words to describe her mom.  “My mom just worries.  A lot.  And there’s a lot of stuff in her past that still upsets her and one of those things is Sans and I guess when she saw me talking to him at the party she COMPLETELY overreacted-”

 

Frisk paused as Thlipsi’s expression turned from baffled to complete bewilderment.  

 

“Overreacted?!” he nearly shouted.  Almost instantly both children winced and quickly turned around to stare at the dark cottage.  Frisk half-expected to see an angry goat-mother bursting out the front door.  When nothing happen, Thlipsi let out a relieved sigh and continued talking in a more hushed whisper.

 

“Frisk, Sans is the crueler of the two Gods of Death.  Everybody knows that.  He gets a joy out of watching things suffer and I know that because my sister told me that and she knows everything-”

 

Frisk snorted.  “My mom said nobody knows everything.”

 

Thlipsi shook his head, his eyes wide.  “Trust me, my sister is older than me and she reads a lot more than I do.  She wasn’t at the party, but when I got home and told her what happened she told me that Sans might have reaped you for his own amusement if your mother hadn’t stepped in,” the god explained and looked around nervously almost as though he were worried Sans might be near by.  

  
  


“My sister also  told me if he got the chance, he’d probably reap immortals too. Even…”Thlipsi paused and lowered his head and leaned forward until his forehead was almost touching Frisk’s, “...even Undyne tells the Immortal children to stay away from him.  He’s evil, Frisk.  That’s why nobody likes him.”  

 

Frisk felt something harsh thump her SOUL when she heard friend’s fearful but mean words.  

 

**_Even the other Gods and Goddesses that fought alongside him in the war don’t like him?_ **

 

“He doesn’t have any friends?”

 

Thlipsi shook his head.  “Aside from his brother, the other God of Death, Papyrus, I don’t think so.  And who wants to be friends with him anyways, Frisk?  Take it from me, somebody who's seen this God in action, he doesn’t deserve any friends.”

 

Her face hardened at his mean words.  

 

There’s was a slight blush of shame that tinted the small God’s face as Frisk crossed her arms and frowned at him.  

 

“I know it sounds mean and I’m sorry if I made you upset with me,” Thlipsi said quickly and desperately.  Frisk felt her face soften.  “But Frisk you got to understand, in a way Sans brings it upon himself.  He constantly makes “jokes” about reaping whoever he’s talking to, he glares at the other immortals with that black stare of his…” Thlipsi shivered before continuing “...  AND he never comes to our parties unless his brother drags him there and when he’s there he just stares at everybody angrily.  Like he hates us all.”

 

Frisk uncrossed her arms as this new information about Sans along with the information she learned from Toriel began turning in her head.  

 

**_He is the reason why diseases and suffering exist in the human world._ **

 

That’s what the humans said.  That’s what Toriel said.  That’s what Thlipsi was saying so…so logically speaking, Frisk knew Sans must be evil and twisted since two powerful beings; her mother, who had long ago disowned the Immortals and Thlipsi, who lived with those very Immortals  were saying the same things about the same god, so it would be safe to assume Sans was a bad person….

 

...but why did Sans save her if he were so bad?  And why was Frisk’s chest hurting at the thought that aside from Papyrus, Sans didn’t have a single friend? 

 

**_Mom doesn’t want to talk about Sans anymore, but maybe Thlipsi will_ ** , Frisk thought before taking her feet out of the water, and pulling her knees up and resting her chin on them.  

 

Thlipsi, do you remember when Undyne’s tower fell?”

 

The little god nodded his head, his eyes brightening.  Frisk smiled.  Thlipsi was probably one of the cutest boys the demi-goddess had ever met.

 

“Yeah, Undyne was so amazing!  Did you see how she was able to lift all the Immortals up without breaking a sweat?  That was so incredible-”

 

“When it  **_fell,_ ** Thlipsi,” Frisk reminded him, giggling a little bit.  

 

The God’s eyes dimmed a bit and his smile faltered a bit.  

 

“Yeah that part wasn’t too fun,” he said before his manly serious expression came back.  “Everybody was worried when they couldn’t find you-”

 

“Sans saved me.”

 

It felt good to tell somebody that.  

 

Thlipsi stared at Frisk.  He face was completely devoid of expression.  Frisk continued when she realized he was in shock.

 

“Before the tower crushed me, I felt something grip my chest and pull me away.  It was Sans.  I’m not an Immortal like you Thlipsi and I would have been killed if he hadn’t saved me.”

 

Thlipsi remained silent and expressionless and Frisk wondered if her words reached him at all, but after a few seconds Thlipsi quickly began shaking his head.  

 

“No that can be true, Frisk.”

 

Frisk nodded her head just as quickly.  “No it’s true.  I swear on my mom’s name it is!”

 

Thlipsi’s unconvinced look started to fade and Frisk felt a small flutter of hope that somebody was FINALLY gonna listen to her.  Frisk didn’t know if Sans was usually a mean person, but he did an amazing thing and people deserved to know about it.  

 

“Why would he save me if he likes to see people suffer?  With me being dead, not only would he have been able to reap a human SOUL, but he could have also watch watched my mother suffer and he hates her,” Frisk said.

 

Thlipsi thumped his tail in thought.  

 

“I think….maybe….I don’t want to say anything unkind about Papyrus, but it was kinda his fault that the tower fell and he would have been responsible for your death....Sans probably didn’t want his brother do deal with your mother.  Trust me Frisk, if Undyne had caused that tower to fall, he would have let it drop right on you.  If there’s one thing that Sans hates, it’s humans.”

 

**_That makes sense_ ** , Frisk thought but it didn’t...it didn’t feel right.  

 

That second time she talked to Sans, when she thanked him with a kiss because she had nothing else to give him as a way to show him how grateful she was for his kind act, he didn’t look disgusted by it.  Granted, he looked startled, but not disgusted.  

 

**_Maybe he’s angry and scary to all the other Gods and Goddesses because he’s lonely._ **

 

Frisk knew how it felt to be lonely.  One day a year she made hundreds of friends of all ages, gender and color but all those friendships, as great as they were, only lasted one night.  One short night.  Most times it didn’t bother her, but sometimes when she laid in her bed, it hurt her a lot.  Maybe Sans felt the same way.  Only he didn’t even have that one night like Frisk always had.

 

**_Maybe he needs a friend,_ ** the young demi-goddess thought.  She looked at Thlipsi and a small smile began growing on her face.  The little god clearly didn’t know what the smile was for but he smiled back anyway.

 

“How are Undyne and Alphys doing?”

 

Thlipsi’s eyes brightened again at Undyne’s name.  

 

“They want you to come visit them as soon as you can!  They were planning on sending Mettaton out with invitations tomorrow-”

 

“Tell them not to do that. I promised my mother I wouldn’t talk to them until they proved themselves as reformed Goddesses, but I think I found a solution for that.  If I were to write some letters for the Gods and Goddesses I met at the party do you think you could deliver them for me?”

 

Based on the manly way he straightened himself up, Frisk knew the answer, but all the same, she wrapped an arm around his armless shoulder and rested her head on his other shoulder.

 

“Pretty please?” she said sweetly and batted her eyelashes at him.

 

His straight posture melted almost instantly and Frisk grinned when she felt his tail wrap around her shoulder.

 

“Anything for you Frisk!” Thlipsi declared.  Now it was Frisk’s turn to blush and shake.  Her SOUL thumped happily in her chest as both children watched the calming water below their feet.  

 

She had a friend.  And it wouldn’t be like when she visited the humans every year during their celebrations.  Thlipsi wouldn’t just be a one-time only friend she would play or dance with for one night and never see again.  He would be a REAL friend and the thought of having a REAL friend she could see and play with EVERYDAY and not just one day a year, was something she always wanted.  

 

In fact, it was Frisk’s secret desire. And maybe it was Sans’ secret desire too.  Maybe this experiment she wanted to try would fail, but she wouldn’t feel happy with herself if she didn’t try.  Even if Sans just laughed at her attempts and threw them back into her face, it would be worth it.  

 

“You should probably go now before mama wakes up, Thlipsi.  Tomorrow why don’t you come over and I’ll introduce you to her properly.”

 

Thlipsi tightened his hold on Frisk’s shoulders as a more nervous smile came over.  

 

“You...you think she’ll like me?”

 

Before Frisk could answer, she heard a quiet footstep behind them.  She turned around to see her mother staring down at the two of them.  The goddess’ normally clean fur was messy and her purple nightgown was wrinkled but her eyes were extremely alert.  In her hands were three plates.  A pie slice on her plate.

 

“Hi mama,” Frisk said and tried with all her might to push all the shakes out of her voice.  She chanced a glance at Thlipsi.  His yellow skin had paled and Frisk felt his body begin to shiver.  

 

“Hello, my child.  I woke up to a noise outside my window a minute ago and saw you were entertaining a guest, so I brought some pie for everybody,” Toriel said evenly before she turned her unamused stare to Thlipsi who, to his credit, didn’t break eye contact with the goddess.  “Hello, young man.”

 

Frisk heard the little god gulp as he unlatched himself from the demi-goddess and stood up to face the Goddess of Life and bowed gallantly before resuming eye-contact with her.  Toriel raised an eyebrow and it was then that Frisk saw the Goddess fight the urge to keep her unamused expression on her face, but just like Frisk, it seemed as though Toriel found Thlipsi’s ability to make things way more intense than they needed to be extremely funny .  

 

“Hello Lady Toriel.  M-my n-name is...is Thlipsi and I was...I was just….visiting your daughter.”

 

Toriel nodded curtly, her smile almost making an appearance.  “So I see.  Please don’t misunderstand me, my dear boy, I don’t mind you visiting my daughter, in fact, you are most welcome to do so, but please visit her during the day.”

 

Thlipsi gave a heavy sigh of relief to which Toriel finally allowed her face to soften and she gave Thlipsi a pleasant and sweet smile in return.  

 

“Yes ma’am.  Sorry ma’am,” the little God muttered, still keeping eye contact with Toriel.  

 

“Wonderful, now scoot a little bit,” The goddess ordered and when Thilpsi took a few side steps away from Frisk,  Toriel sat down and mentioned Thlipsi to sit down on her other side.  Frisk blushed again as Thlipsi looked almost disappointedly at the demi-goddess, but sat down on Toriel’s other side.  Once seated, Toriel gave one plate to Thlipsi, one plate to Frisk and kept one plate for herself.  

 

Frisk smiled nervously at the stern look Toriel gave her.  

 

“If you two were just a little older visiting each other late at night without my knowledge, I would not be so...welcoming to your night visitor, my child,” and with that, Toriel took a bite out of her pie.

 

Thlipsi blinked in confusion.  “Why is that, Lady Toriel?”

 

Frisk smirked and looked up at her mother who was chewing her pie fast so she could answer.  Frisk beat her to it.  

 

“That’s because she’d think you’d want to stick your stinger in my honeycomb,” Frisk answered.

 

“Frisk!”  Toriel scolded, spitting out pieces of her pie as she spoke.  

 

****************************************************************************************************

“A TELESCOPE, WINGDINGS?  HOW IS A TELESCOPE SUPPOSED TO HELP MY BROTHER FEEL BETTER?”

 

The younger God of Death frowned as he turned the device the God of Science gave him around in his hands, trying to see what was so special about it, but even in his great mind he couldn’t see anything too impressive about it.

 

When Wingdings sent him that letter inviting Papyrus to his home, the younger God of Death didn’t know what to expect when Wingdings stated he had created something that would put Sans “in a better mood” but he never thought it was going to be a simple wooden telescope.  

 

Apparently there must have been something special about though because Wingdings smirked proudly at Papyrus’ baffled expression.  “It’s more than just a telescope, Papyrus.  This telescope allows any Immortal that looks into it to see the human realm.  Incredible, am I correct?”

 

Papyrus couldn’t help but feel a tab bit disappointed that this was the gift that Wingdings had in mind for Sans.  He knew the God of Science was only trying to be a good friend, but Sans and Papyrus could enter the human realm at anytime, a privilege that none of the other Immortals currently had so Papyrus couldn’t imagine why Wingdings would think a gift like this would cheer Sans up.

 

But all the same, Wingdings was giving this to Sans out of the kindness of his own heart and Papyrus admired and appericated that,  so he offered Wingdings a wide smile and valiantly bowed to the older skeletal God.  The Great Papyrus would never refuse a gift from anybody and would NEVER insult a person who was only trying to be kind!

 

“THANK YOU FOR YOUR GIFT, WINGDINGS!  I’M SURE MY BROTHER WILL LOVE IT!” Papyrus said and kept his smile on his face even when Wingdings knowingly winked at him.

 

“I know what you are thinking, my friend, and before I explain just how incredible this telescope truly is, I would like to ask you a question,” Wingdings said with an amused smile beginning to form on his face as he put his hand gracefully behind his back.  “Isn’t it true that when you see a moment of pure happiness you can’t help be feel happy yourself even though you may not be part of that moment?”

 

That was an easy enough question for the Great Papyrus to answer.

 

“OF COURSE!  SEEING OTHER PEOPLE HAPPY MAKES ME HAPPY!”

 

Wingdings nodded.  “I believe that is the case for most people and while some of those people are able to see moments of joy in almost every situation-”

 

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS VERY TALENTED IN THAT ASPECT!”

 

Wingdings’ smile grew as he continued, unbothered by Papyrus’ interruption.

 

“-I believe it’s much harder for your brother to see the good in everyday life.  Yes, what happened at the party the other day was...regrettable, but I have been observing him for awhile now and I feel his...depressive state started much earlier than yesterday.”

 

Wingdings was right too.  Nothing escaped the Great Papyrus’ sockets and during these last few months in particular, he did notice that Sans had fallen into a sort of silent state that was beginning to worry the younger God of Death.  Yes it was true that he made his terrible jokes and puns like clockwork and he always engaged in conversations with Papyrus but that was only when Papyrus began the conversations or provoked the jokes to happen.  If Papyrus didn’t say anything first, Sans and he would sit in total silence at the dinner table or on the boat rides home.   It was beginning to alarm Papyrus and what was even worse was that for the first time in his life Papyrus didn’t know what to do. 

 

“I AM USUALLY VERY GREAT AT SOLVING PROBLEMS AND PUZZLES, BUT SANS HAS BEEN A BIT….SAD LATELY,” Papyrus reluctantly admitted.  Wingdings patted his arm comfortingly.  

 

“I think I have an explanation for that and please stop me if you feel I’m incorrect,” Wingdings said gently.   “When your brother and you enter the human realm, all you primarily see is death, and that can become quite a strain on a person’s mindset,” Wingdings paused offering a sympathetic look.   “Am I safe to assume that?”

 

Despite himself, Papyrus nodded his head.  Yes, death was a necessary part of the human cycle, and Papyrus being the great and merciful God he was, took the time to console and comfort the dying humans before he reaped them, just like Sans always taught him to do, but there were a few humans that fought him to the very end.  

 

There were times when Papyrus laid awake at night and couldn’t get the images of children crying for their parents that a “scary monster” was going to kill them or a person crying out for for their lover for protection out of his mind.  Papyrus knew it was those peoples’ time to go, and like Sans always told him, death was never truly the end, but still….

 

Papyrus’ sockets widened as realization hit him.  

 

**_OF COURSE, WHY DIDN’T I REALIZE THIS BEFORE?!_ ** Papyrus thought to himself.   **_IF SOMEBODY AS GREAT AS I CAN BECOME UPSET OVER WHAT HAPPENS TO THE HUMANS THEN SANS MUST FEEL IT SOMETIMES TOO!_ **

 

Papyrus could have punched himself in the head with how obvious the reason to Sans’ bout of depression was as he let out a few uneasily chuckles.

 

“YOU ARE RIGHT WINGDINGS!  SANS AND I DON’T TALK ABOUT IT LIKE WE SHOULD, BUT WITH ALL THE STRANGE DISEASES THAT HAVE BEEN HAPPENING IN THE LAST FIFTY OR SO YEARS, INCLUDING THIS NEWEST ONE WE BOTH JUST CURED, SANS MUST BE FEELING THE AFTERMATH OF REAPING ALL THOSE POUR SOULS!”  Papyrus declared.  Wingdings nodded his head again, his sockets dimming with understanding.  “SINCE SANS DOESN’T REALLY PARTAKE IN PARTIES, HE HASN’T SEEN ANYTHING THAT COULD REMOTELY BE HAPPY!”

 

As Papyrus said that, he suddenly had the strongest of urges to race home and embrace his brother.  When Sans discovered a cure was found for the most recent disease, he declared another holiday for them and that was the reason why Papyrus had been able to visit Wingdings early today, but now as Papyrus stood in Wingdings’ dark workshop, an unpleasant image on his brother all alone in their house entered his mind.  All alone in the dark. 

 

The dark.

 

Sans hated the dark.  

 

Almost as if Wingdings could hear his inner turmoil, the God of Science cleared his throat, regaining Papyrus’ attention.  

 

“Well I believe my newest invention can change all that.  You see, I put a little...hmmm-how do I put this- **_magic_ ** in this telescope so whenever you look into it, you’ll see the humans celebrating a happy occasion.”

 

Papyrus took another look at the telescope in his hands.  

 

“YOU MEAN IT WILL FOCUS  **_ONLY_ ** ON HAPPY MOMENTS IN THE HUMAN REALM?”  

 

Wingdings’ smile was once again proud and pleased as he nodded.  “Correct.”

 

Papyrus frowned thoughtfully.  The only happy occasion that he knew the humans took part in was the Festival of Life and Freedom.  “WHAT TYPES OF HAPPY OCCASIONS?”

 

Wingdings shrugged.  “There are so many happy occasions in the human world, just like there are in our world Papyrus.  They do have celebration just like ours, but I can’t really say which ones the telescope will show you.  It might focus on a small birthday party, two old friends meeting up, children playing happily in the park….perhaps a wedding, but the important thing is that it always brings a happy image for the Immortal using it.”

 

Papyrus titled his head, his curiosity getting the best of him and he put the telescope up to his socket.  The sudden bright green grass that assaulted his vision was disorienting, since he KNEW he was in Wingdings’ darken workshop.  And then along with the change of atomosphere there were new voices that entered his skull but when the telescope’s lense fully cleared, Papyrus let out an amazed and gleefully “NYEH HEH HEH.”

 

Wingdings laughed along with him.  

 

“What’s do you see?”

 

Papyrus couldn’t stop smiling at the image the telescope gave me.

 

“I SEE A MAN AND A WOMAN AND THEY ARE PLAYING WITH THEIR CHILDREN OUTSIDE THEIR HOME!  HOW SWEET!”

 

He pull the telescope away from his face.

 

“YES WINGDINGS!  I DO BELIEVE THIS DEVICE WILL CHEER SANS UP!  THANK YOU FOR BEING A CONSIDERATE FRIEND!”  And with that comment, Papyrus felt a little bit of the happiness the telescope gave him vanish.  “NOT A LOT OF THE OTHER GODS AND GODDESSES HAVE THE TYPE OF…INSIGHT YOU AND I HAVE WHEN IT COMES TO SANS!” 

 

Papyrus awkwardly drummed his fingers against the wooden base of the telescope, focusing more it as opposed to the God standing in front of him.

 

“SANS TRIES TO HIDE IT, BUT I’M HIS BROTHER, AND A GREAT BROTHER AT THAT, SO I KNOW HE CAN GET SO SAD SOMETIMES, BUT!” Papyrus quickly added before regaining his smile, “ I’M SURE WHEN SANS LOOKS THROUGH THIS AND SEES SO MANY PEOPLE HAPPY, HE’LL BE ABLE TO BASK IN THEIR HAPPINESS TOO!”

Wingdings placed an arm around Papyrus’ shoulder and started to walk the the God of Death towards the door.  “My thoughts exactly, Papyrus...now if you’ll excuse me I have a busy day, but thank you for visiting me and I hope you find time in the near future to visit me again and tell me how your brother is faring.”

 

Papyrus tightened his grip on  the telescope, feeling the excitement grow in him.

 

“Oh!  And one last thing before you go:  perhaps it would be best if you….just....didn’t tell Sans this gift isn’t for the sole purpose of making him feel better.”

 

“WHAT?  WHY NOT?”

 

Wingdings smiled patiently.  “Like you said, he tries to hide his feelings and giving him this gift and explaining  **_why_ ** he is receiving this gift will most likely embarrass him.  Perhaps you should tell him that Alphys gave it to you and you want Sans to try it out.  Does that make sense?”

 

It did make sense and even though it didn’t make Papyrus feel all that great to tell Sans a lie, the younger God did suppose it was a necessary lie and so after agreeing to keep it a secret, he bid Wingdings’ farewell and headed towards the River Person who was patiently waiting for him.

 

After months of seeing his brother so...unusually silent, Papyrus finally had a cure for it!  Just like the humans now had a cure for their horrible disease!  With an excited laugh, he started to run the rest of the way to the River that led to his home, waving to everybody he passed before nearly running into the little armless fellow, Thlipsi.

  
  


Thlipsi let out a small shout of surprise and cowered, but Papyrus managed to halt his sprint before crashing into the small God.

 

“GOODNESS, I AM TERRIBLY SORRY, LITTLE ONE!”  Papyrus said, kneeling down to the little God’s height.  Even though he didn’t hit the child, he wanted to make sure the little one was okay nonetheless.  Aside from the tired look in the child’s eyes, Thlipsi seemed alright.  In fact, the boy seemed extremely happy despite his exhausted look.

 

“Lord Papyrus!” the boy said hopping up and down excitedly.  Papyrus smiled.

 

“PLEASE, LITTLE ONE, THERE IS NO NEED FOR TITLES!  THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL DO NICELY!”

 

Thlipsi paused, his tired eyes puzzled for a second before resuming his excited stance.  

 

“I’m glad I found you!  My human friend Frisk-”

 

Papyrus grinned.  “THE HUMAN FROM THE PARTY?”

 

Thlipsi nodded and Papyrus couldn’t help but wonder why the little fellow’s eyes narrowed slightly.  “Yes, MY FRIEND is sending out letters to all the Gods and Goddesses she befriended at the party and has written you a letter as well!”

The little God rummaged through the small bag that was tied around his waist using his tail and pulled out a thin package.

 

Papyrus took it gleefully.  Of course he made a good impression on the human and naturally she wanted to keep into contact!  The younger God of Death waited for Thlipsi to present him with Sans’ letter of friendship as well, but frowned when the small God simply bowed, wished him a good day and took off.

 

**_PERHAPS I SHOULDN’T OPEN THIS IN FRONT OF SANS,_ ** Papyrus thought, tucking the small package in his black robe before continuing his sprint towards the river.  Once there, he hopped into the small wooden boat that would take him home.  

 

“PLEASE HURRY TODAY!  I HAVE A GREAT SURPRISE FOR SANS AND I WANT TO GIVE IT TO HIM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!” Papyrus said breathlessly.  The River Person simply grabbed their long wooden paddle and began rowing their boat, just a tiny bit more faster than usual.  

 

“Tralalala….cakes can have poison baked into them and darkness can hide wondrous things.”  

 

When Sans and he were younger they always used to try and decipher the odd things their servant always sang during their boat rides home and while some of the River Person’s songs were easy enough to figure out, there were some that left both brothers completely baffled.  Papyrus remembered how much fun they used to have playing that game.  There had been whole nights where the two of them would stay up late, singing their servant’s songs over and over again, trying to see if the other one could figure out the meaning and then when they got bored of that game they would start replacing the River Person’s words with silly words using the same melody their servant sang in, until the brothers couldn’t even remember how the original song went.  

 

Of course over the years that game had faded and now the songs were simply dismissed as a way for their servant to pass the time while they rowed the two Gods home.  However, there were times when Papyrus missed those games, but when those feelings hit him, he simply laughed it off, telling himself that was a game for “baby bones”.  Not for a Great and Intelligent and extremely Handsome Adult God such as himself.

 

As the River Person sped up, Papyrus put the telescope to his socket again.

 

Now the image the device showed him was a young and very pretty human woman, perhaps in her kitchen, singing a sweet little lullaby to her infant child who, in Papyrus’ opinion, was being adorably cranky.  The young lady never got angry though no matter how fussy her child got.  She simply continued her song, rocking her baby until the child tired themselves out.  

 

The scene was so wonderful and so beautiful that Papyrus didn’t even realize the boat had stopped until the River Person cleared their throat, getting the younger God’s attention.  

 

Papyrus put the telescope down, the mother’s humming and the pretty morning sunlight that poured into her kitchen instantly leaving his skull as the light blue glow of the Echo Flowers assaulted Papyrus’ eyes.  He had to blink to get his sockets adjusted the darkness before letting out a sheepish laugh.

 

“THANK YOU AND...UM...YOU KNOW I NEVER NORMALLY MISS SEARCHING FOR ANY SOULS THAT MAY START TO REMEMBER WHO THEY ARE, BUT EVEN SOMEBODY AS GREAT AS I CAN GET DISTRACTED.  YOU DIDN’T SEE ANY SOULS THAT WERE CHANGING COLORS DID YOU?”

 

The River Person shook their head silently and with that confirmation, Papyrus took off, racing towards their brilliantly-lit home and when he got there, he was a little more than relieved to see Madame Snowdrake dusting the library,  the same room that Sans was in.  

 

The older skeleton was seated down and much to Papyrus’ annoyance had decided to spend his holiday sleeping.  

 

**_SUCH A LAZYBONES_ ** , Papyrus thought to himself before he shook his brother awake.  

 

The older God grinned widely after rubbing his sockets and stood up, stretching.  Papyrus heard almost all his brother’s bones crack in perfect unison.  

 

“ heya bro.  training done with already?”  Sans asked before letting out a loud yawn.  “ what time is it?”

 

Papyrus shook his head, his eagerness overtaking everything else and he held up the the telescope for Sans to see.  The shorter God titled his head.

 

“ what’cha got there, bro?”

 

Papyrus started to explain everything but thought that perhaps it would be easier for Sans just to experience this fantastic invention.  

 

“LOOK THROUGH THIS BROTHER!  UM...ALPHYS GAVE IT TO ME TO TRY OUT!”

 

Sans frowned.  “ she gave you a telescope?”

 

“JUST LOOK THROUGH IT!”

 

Without further ado, Sans looked through it and Papyrus let out a smug laugh when Sans instantly pulled his face away from it.  

 

“ what did I just see?”

 

Papyrus crossed his arms.  “THIS TELESCOPE SHOWS ANY IMMORTAL LOOKING THROUGH IT THE HUMAN REALM!  WHAT DID YOU SEE?”

 

Sans frowned and just like Papyrus turned the device all around before putting it back to his socket.  

 

“ i see….a man and a woman kissing.”

 

Papyrus let out a squeal of excitement.  “LET ME SEE!”

 

Sans handed back the telescope, still looking a little stunned.  When Papyrus put his socket up to the lense, he frowned.  

 

“I don’t see two people kissing.  I see a little girl on her father’s shoulder.”

 

Sans let out a quiet hum.  “ let me see that again.”

 

Papyrus gave it back and once again, Sans put the device up to his socket.

 

“ now i see a wedding happening.”

 

Papyrus waited for Sans to pull his face away from the device and let him see the image, but was overjoyed when his brother sat back down in the chair, his socket never leaving the lense.  

 

**_HE LIKES IT_ ** , Papyrus thought gleefully.  

 

“IF YOU WANT YOU CAN BORROW THAT!”

 

Sans nodded his head, but aside from that he couldn’t stop staring into the telescope.  It made Papyrus curious to see just how crazy or happy this human wedding was, but Sans was enjoying himself so he didn’t want to ruin the moment.

 

Since his brother was occupied at the moment, he decided that now was a good time to open his letter from the demi-goddess.

 

“I HAVE TO GO TO MY ROOM, BROTHER, BUT I’LL BACK IN A FEW MINUTES.”

 

Sans nodded his head again.

 

Papyrus quickly raced to his room and opened the package, excited about what the human wrote him.   **_PERHAPS SHE WRITING TO TELL ME SHE WAS AMAZED BY MY FANTASTIC PUZZLES OR MY GREAT WIT OR…_ **

 

All thoughts die in his mind when two letters fell out.  One was for him.  The other one…

 

Papyrus could have sworn his smile was gonna crack his face in half!

 

“SANS!!!” Papyrus screamed, grabbing his brother’s letter and rushing down the stairs.  

 

***************************************************************************************************

 

**_Dear Sans,_ **

 

**_First off, I want to explain why I hided yur letter in Papyrus’ letters. I sort of pormised my mom I wouldn’t talk to you and while sending a letter is techinically not “talking” I’m not taking any chances!   Even my new best freind doesn’t know I did that!_ **

**_I can be sneaky when I want to be!  Secondly and most importtantly, I want to apo-say I’m sorry for the way my mother acted towards you at the party.  You saved my life and I want you to know I’ll never forget that.  Ever._ **

 

**_And with writing that, I want us to be friends.  I wish I didn’t have to be so secrotive with these letters, but my mom worries a lot.  I was hoping we could write letters back and forth and be best “pen-pals” as the humans would say._ **

 

**_Also I’m sorry if this letter is a little messy.  I’m not a good speller, but my mom is working on that with me!_ **

 

**_Sinsearly, your newest Friend,_ **

 

**_Frisk_ **

 

Sans must have reread the childish letter so many times before he picked up the telescope and looked through it again.  Now the image was of two lovers hugging passionately.

 

His hands began to shake as the image of the empty throne he created years ago for his queen flashed through his mind.

 

“Madame Snowdrake, can you please pour me a glass of wine?” Sans asked feeling something painful begin to build in his chest.

 

Madame Snowdrake did as she was told and just as she was about to leave the room Sans spoke again.

 

“Leave the bottle.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit starts to hit the fan in the next chapter!!! ^_^


	7. Making Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about the delay! This chapter was too long so we decided to chop it in half. The other part should be out in a week or so! ;) As always we thank you for your patience, love, comments and kudos!

Thlipsi was supposed to be home before the sun went down, but during their time together, one thing led to another, and before they knew it, Frisk and the little god had lost track of time and the sun went down.  

 

It had been a great day, one of the best that Frisk could remember having, and there had been many great days in Toriel’s household.  The two children spent their day talking about the Human Realm, the festival that was celebrated each year in Toriel’s honor, the differences and similarities between humans and immortals, (Thlipsi had so many questions about humans; Frisk had so many questions about immortal society) and as they talked they ate sweets and delicious food courtesy of Whisk, Tops and Binkie who had also come with the small god to visit Toriel. 

 

At one point during the day, Frisk managed to talk the adult immortals, her mother included, into playing a game of hide and seek with herself and Thlipsi since “it’s not fun to play the game with only two people.”  And, truth be told, It was supposed to be only one game, or at least that’s what Frisk thought, but after being “it” and finding nearly everybody in a matter of seconds, Tops declared he wanted the honor of seeking people out and then Binkie wanted to give it a try, Thlipsi was next and then during one game everybody was “it” except Whisk who was probably the best hider of the group.

 

That cat god could climb anything, from the trees to the small cottage’s roof, and was able to flatten his body down so low to the ground he nearly blended into his surroundings.  During one of the games, Whisk had hid in a patch of flowers and the only way he was found was that Frisk saw his tail excitedly swaying back and forth in the air.  

 

Everybody was laughing.   **_Really_ ** laughing, really enjoying themselves and there was no tension in the air like there had been at the party.  The best thing though?  Toriel was just as happy having visitors come to see her as Frisk was at having Thlipsi to play with, and when all their guests had left for the day, Frisk couldn’t help but notice that the small smile that had been on her mother’s lips the entire day never quite left her.  

 

Yes, it was safe to say it had been a great day and it was gonna only get better as far as Frisk was concerned.  This last surprise was for Frisk only. 

 

Frisk just had to be patient until she could get to it and so after Toriel gave her a bath, snugly tucked her into bed, read her a bedtime story and kissed her goodnight, the little demigoddess waited a good amount of time until she was sure her mother was fast asleep before she quietly got out of bed, crept to her school desk and slowly opened the top to pull out a small candle and a tiny box of matches Toriel gave her years ago.  The matches produced small magical fire that wouldn’t spread or burn if touched and the purple wax that made up the candle would never melt, just like its wick would never burn out.  

 

After that late night incident years ago where Frisk had cut herself after trying to get a piece of pie, Toriel wanted to make sure that never happened again.  Smiling, Frisk lit the candle.  A soft warm orange glow filled her room and with excitement pounding in her chest, Frisk looked around, making sure her mother hadn’t quietly snuck in, and when the little demi-goddess was sure the coast was clear, she pulled out her thick math book and opened it to the page where she had hastily hidden the letters Thlipsi had eagerly and discreetly given her that day.

 

Everybody wrote back.   **_Everybody_ ** .  Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus… and Sans.  Or at least, Frisk hoped Sans had but she wouldn’t know for sure until she opened Papyrus’ letter.  Picking one letter up randomly and opening it, Frisk smirked, instantly knowing who wrote this letter. 

 

**_Human,_ **

 

**_Don’t misinterpret my response to your letter as a sign of friendship.  I am NOT interested in being your friend.  As a GODDESS it is beneath my status to befriend a human and so any letter exchanges you and I have are strictly for business only.  I desire to re-enter the human world and since your mother does not approve of “necessary violence”, and don’t let her fool you, human, there is such a thing as that,  I need to find a way where my skills will meet her standards and help improve the lives of you weak humans who are no doubt struggling to live day to day without OUR guidance.  You will provide me with all the answers I need to obtain my goal.  Is that CLEAR?!_ **

 

**_That means at no point are you allowed to cut off our communication.  I expect at least one poorly written letter each week from you, describing how the humans live their lives these days AND your own interests as well, since you are a pathetic, pudgy, though admittedly cute human yourself and the more information I can gather about your race the quicker I can re enter the Human Realm.  I DID NOT just compliment you, either.  Some things can be so ugly that they are cute.  You fall into that category._ **

 

**_Now, in your first letter, you wrote about a human sport called baseball and while I would NEVER lower myself to enjoy a human invention of any kind, the young gods and goddesses lack athletic skills and activities and this game seems to allow a great number of them a chance to excise and enjoy working in teams._ **

 

**_The God of Death, Papyrus, and I have already named ourselves coaches to this silly sport.  He has one team and I have the other.  Unfortunately I am missing one player to make a full team and while I would NEVER have a human on my side I suppose if you want to play on my team you can._ **

 

**_I am well aware that you are writing these letters in secret to me so I have ordered Thlipsi to discuss this to you in front of your mother.  I hope you are smart enough to play along and tell your mother you want to play with the other young Gods and Goddesses._ **

 

**_That is what I expect from you, human._ **

 

**_Practice is next month.   You BETTER know how to pitch, because none of my players have any idea how to._ **

 

**_The Goddess of Conflict and Resolution,_ **

**_Undyne_ **

 

Frisk grinned widely.  Being on a baseball team?!  For more than one night out of the year?!  And playing with people she would be able to see over and over again?  

 

**_Of course, mom will have be talked into it,_ ** Frisk thought, her smile faltering slightly.  That’s gonna be a hard battle, especially with Undyne being one of the coaches but… Frisk began to grin wickedly… not an impossible battle to win.  After all, the goat goddess did say that Undyne deserved a chance to redeem herself.  But it was gonna take more than a rehearsed performance between Thlipsi and herself to convince Toriel that it was okay for her to play on Undyne’s team.   Maybe Tops, Whisk and Binkie could help her….

 

Frisk shook those scheming ideas out of her head.  

 

**_Dear Frisk,_ **

 

**_Thank you for taking the time to write to me.  I’m always worried I don’t make a good first impression when I meet new people for the first time and that party was a little… stressful for all.  I apologize that it couldn’t be more relaxing.  That’s what parties are for, right?  To enjoy yourself.  At least that’s what was supposed to happen._ **

 

**_Well anyways, you writing to me and asking to be friends must mean I’m getting better in social situations!  Undyne taught me how to talk to strangers so she gets all the credit for you liking me.  I know she comes off as being short-tempered and aggressive, and she is but she’s also a good person and I’m so happy you were able to see that in her.  She’s one of the best, as the humans would say!_ **

 

**_Hopefully you will be able to talk your mother into playing on her team.  She’s really excited about it and I think you being on her team may convince your mother that Undyne does have great things to offer humans.  Her ideas on health, exercise and self-confidence are extremely impressive and I believe if given the chance, Undyne’s knowledge in those fields can better improve the lives of humans!  Everybody wins!!!_ **

 

**_And speaking of that… to be honest, when I received your letter, I was overcome with hope.  I received a letter from a human, I can’t help but feel that if one human can try to reach out to us immortals that perhaps, one day, more will do the same and  maybe one day, I’ll be able to return to the Human Realm to atone for my actions against your kind._ **

 

**_But I know that takes time, patience, forgiveness and understanding from the humans._ **

 

**_As for the time being, I would… be forever thankful if you could do something for me the next time you are visiting the Human Realm.  You see before the war, one of the things I most loved about the humans were their ability to create fantastic stories with the most amazing characters and there was one story in particular that caught my interest._ **

 

**_You see, it’s about a young human girl who is born as a sort of demigoddess cat creature.  She has a human body and face, but instead of regular ears, she has cat ears and a cat tail.  Her mother hides her away from the rest of the world, but one day she breaks free and makes all sorts of new friends who love her despite her deformity and it really is a beautiful tale of friendship and bravery and I absolutely loved it and I would very much appreciate it if you were, and please keep in mind, you don’t have to do this but, I would be really appreciative if you did, ask your fellow humans if there were any more tales centered around her.  If it helps, her name was Mew in those tales._ **

 

**_I hope to hear from you very soon._ **

 

**_Sincerely,_ **

**_Alphys_ **

 

Frisk frowned at Goddess of Wisdom’s words.  Despite the cheery, cute and pleasant tone Alphys used in her writing, Frisk couldn’t help but feel slightly depressed after reading the goddess’s letter.  The little demigoddess couldn’t imagine anything worse than wanting to apologize and never having the chance to do it.  And it seems like Alphys was in that position… just as Frisk knew the other immortals must be going through.  

 

From past festivals Frisk attended, many of the humans spoke poorly, even viciously against most of the immortals and Frisk understood why.  War leaves behind a lot of really bad wounds, the demigoddess needed only to look at her mother to prove that statement and to be fair. Frisk couldn’t deny that while the immortals really were terrible during the war, that happened so many years ago… shouldn’t that be a thing of the past?  

 

Whatever Alphys did during the war must have been bad… really really really bad for Toriel and the humans to openly hate the cute, chubby stuttering lizard goddess and Frisk really didn’t want to find out what she’d done, either.  The past was the past after all and shouldn’t people WANT to heal?  If Frisk asked what each immortal had done it would be like picking at wounds that never fully healed.  

 

…Maybe immortals like Alphys pick at their own wounds everyday….

 

Frisk’s frown deepened as she stare at the goddess’s letter.  A part of her wanted to show Toriel this letter as proof that the immortals who fought against the humans were truly sorry for what they’ve done, but that might open a lot of questions that Frisk didn’t want her mother to ask.

 

**How did you receive these letters?**

 

**Did you break your promise to me about not talking to those Gods and Goddesses?**

 

**Who else have you sent letters to?**

 

All those answers would cause a lot of problems… not only for Frisk, but for Thlipsi, too, and the demigoddess wasn’t exactly sure how her mother might react, but she knew one result could  be that Toriel might not let Thlipsi come around anymore.  That thought was just heartbreaking.  

 

**_No,_ ** Frisk thought feeling her face harden with determination as she reread Alphys’ letter.  **_Me and Alphys will just have to show mom that she’s a good person and deserves to be back to the human world.  That they all do._ **

 

With that thought, Frisk nodded her head.  As for the Mew tales… Toriel was very learned in human literacy… perhaps Frisk could tell the goat goddess she heard one tale of this odd Mew character during her most recent trip to the Human Realm and wanted to hear more tales.

 

It sounded like a good plan to Frisk and so with one problem of Alphys’ solved, Frisk tucked her letter away and reached for the next letter.  Papyrus’.  Taking a deep breath, Frisk opened his thick letter and nearly broke her face with a huge smile.  Two letters!  

 

**_Yes,_ ** Frisk thought gleefully and opened the first one.  

 

**_GREETINGS LITTLE HUMAN CHILD,_ **

 

**_I SEE THAT I LEFT A VERY GREAT IMPRESSION FOR YOU TO WANT TO CONTINUE COMMUNICATIONS WITH I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, BUT THAT IS TO BE EXPECTED AND I  ACCEPT YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH VERY STRONG AND OPEN ARMS!_ **

 

**_NOW THEN, I DO BELIEVE THAT IT’S TRADITIONAL FOR HUMANS TO CELEBRATE EVENTS WITH A DINNER OF SOME SORT AND A NEW FRIENDSHIP IS THE GREATEST THING THAT CAN BE CELEBRATED WHETHER YOU ARE A MORTAL OR IMMORTAL!_ **

 

**_WE MUST DO THAT!  WE MUST CELEBRATE OUR FRIENDSHIP WITH A SPAGHETTI DISH AND PUZZLES FOR AFTER DINNER ENTERTAINMENT!  I’LL BRING THE FOOD AND PUZZLES AND YOU SET UP THE ARRANGEMENT WITH YOUR MOTHER.  OF COURSE SHE IS EXPECTED TO COME TOO SO PLEASE LET HER KNOW THAT._ **

 

**_ALSO AS YOU CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED YOURSELF TO BE A VERY INTELLIGENT BEING WITH YOUR LOVE OF PUZZLES AND YOUR ABILITY TO SEE GREATNESS INSTANTLY, I BELIEVE IF YOU AND I WERE TO WORK TOGETHER WE COULD FINALLY END THIS CHILDISH FEUD BETWEEN MY BROTHER AND YOUR MOTHER ONCE AND FOR ALL!_ **

 

**_OF COURSE ENDING BITTERNESS TAKES TIME BUT I BELIEVE WITH ENOUGH love, TIME, PASTA AND PUZZLES WE CAN ACHIEVE OUR GOALS._ **

 

**_AND WHILE WE ARE ON THE SUBJECT OF MY BROTHER, I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR BEING ABLE TO SEE THE GOOD IN HIM.  EVEN THOUGH HE TELLS TERRIBLE JOKES, CAN BE MESSY, AND GETS SAD AND ANGRY AT TIMES, MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT:  HE IS A GREAT BROTHER! UNFORTUNATELY NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE THE ABILITY TO SEE HIM AS THAT SO THANK YOU FOR EXTENDING YOUR TOKEN OF FRIENDSHIP TO HIM AS WELL._ **

 

**_NOW THEN I DO BELIEVE I WILL END MY LETTER HERE!   I HOPE YOU ARE ABLE PARTICIPATE IN OUR BASEBALL GAMES, UNDYNE IS LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING YOU ON HER TEAM SO I HOPE YOU CAN CONVINCE YOUR MOTHER TO LET YOU ATTEND._ **

 

**_I’LL ADMIT, THE GAMES WON’T BE AS FUN AS MY PUZZLES, BUT I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO MAKE THEM AS ENJOYABLE AS POSSIBLE._ **

 

**_YOUR FRIEND,_ **

**_THE GREAT PAPYRUS_ **

 

  1. **_LET ME KNOW THE DATE OF OUR FRIENDSHIP DINNER!_**



 

Frisk giggled after reading his letter.  The dinner would be easy enough to arrange.  Toriel liked Papyrus and if Frisk revealed that she received a dinner invitation from the younger God of Death, she highly doubted her mother would ban her going.  Of course the dinner would probably be at the cottage, but it was something.  More than something as far as Frisk was concerned.

 

The other thing though: trying to mend the wounds between Toriel and Sans… it sounded impossible.  At least on Toriel’s end.  Frisk loved her mother dearly, but she couldn’t kid herself that forgiveness was something that Toriel did well.  Frisk would even admit that Toriel was horrible at forgiveness and if the goat goddess had left her husband, never to speak to him again, Frisk doubted she would forgive Sans.  

 

But she couldn’t tell Papyrus that.  No, never.  Based on the letter, Papyrus seemed extremely hopeful this could happen and why destroy his hope?  

 

Unable to help herself, Frisk giggled again as she visualized the tall, grinning, over-excited skeleton god.  

 

She really couldn’t believe Papyrus was one of the Gods of Death and in a strange way she was glad that was his role in the world of the immortals.  Death was scary enough for humans, but maybe during their final moments of life, when their loved ones and the life they always knew faded from their vision, perhaps seeing somebody as kind and as warm as Papyrus leading them to the Underworld would make death… better?  Less scary?  

 

Frisk didn’t exactly know what happened after Sans and Papyrus reaped the human SOULs, her mother refused to discuss that topic with her, mostly because it upset the goddess to talk about Frisk’s own eventual death, but if Papyrus… and Sans, for that matter… were just as kind and easygoing as they had been at the party,  then perhaps death wasn’t as scary as so many humans thought it was.  

 

Well maybe that was stretching it, everybody was different after all therefore one human’s reaction was different from the next, but Frisk wouldn’t know for sure until she met the Gods of Death during her final moments of life.  

 

The smile from Frisk’s face vanished as she thought of her own death.  Would she be young or old when she died?  How would she die?  Peacefully?  Violently?  If she were still good friends with them, would it be weird for Papyrus and Sans to reap somebody they knew?  And how would her mother take it?

 

The questions didn’t upset Frisk per say, but they did leave an unpleasant thumping in her SOUL, particularly that last one because Frisk already knew the answer:

 

**_Not well.  Not well at all._ **

 

And with that, Frisk turned her mind away from that subject.  

 

**_Thoughts for another day,_ ** Frisk thought and let out a big yawn, stretching her arms out, feeling the exhaustion finally hit her, but she couldn’t fall asleep just yet… she had one more letter left… and so she reached for her final letter.  Sans’ letter.

 

**_kid,_ **

 

**_don’t worry about the grammar mistakes, i never use capitalization when i write so i don’t mind a few misspelled words here and there, and just between two new friends, if you are serious with your declaration about being “pen-pals” that is, i think you’re making too big a deal out of that tower incident.  like i told you before, i wasn’t gonna reap any SOULS that day so even if that tower crushed you, you would have been just fine._ **

 

**_…well maybe not fine.  you’d have a crushed body ...a lot of broken bones… your skull would have been powder… but other than that you’d walk away without a scratch and would have some great stories to tell the other humans during the next festival_ ** **_of life and freedom.  so quit thanking me for that.  first with that kiss and now with a letter.  if you keep feeding me all that sweetness, you’re gonna make me puke… well if i had a stomach I would..._ **

 

**_Also keep in mind,  i do have a reputation to keep so don’t go telling everybody what i did at the party.  i’m sure you’ve heard about me and i’ll have you know i put a lot of effort into being the scarier god of death._ **

 

**_now then...so how is this letter exchange gonna work?  how often are you gonna be writing to me?_ **

 

**_-Sans_ **

 

Frisk would have laughed at the letter.  It was filled with the skeleton’s weird, but admittedly funny humor, but there was one line that made her cringe:

 

**_“i’m sure you’ve heard about me and i’ll have you know i put a lot of effort into being the scarier god of death.”_ **

 

Was that a joke?  Well, half of that sentence wasn’t a joke based on what Thlipsi had told her.   The shorter God of Death must have known what the other immortals thought of him, but… was he kidding about being scary on purpose?  

 

Thlipsi’s harsh words flashed in her mind:

 

**_“...in a way Sans brings it upon himself...”_ **

 

Frisk frowned.  Maybe he liked being scary, or maybe…. wasn’t being scary on purpose.  Maybe he was just kidding or being his dark-humored self like he was at the party and nobody caught onto his joke or bothered to talk to him because they couldn’t get past his crazy dark stare or his weird jokes…

 

**_Well, if that is the case then he needs a friend more than ever,_ ** Frisk thought feeling a small determined smile come over her face.   **_And I’m gonna let him know that not only am I NOT afraid of him, but I also LIKE him.  See how he responds to THAT!_ **

 

Shaking off her exhaustion, she began writing Sans a response.  She would get to the other letters later, but for now she wanted to write to the person who needed it the most.

****************************************************************************************************

**_Boney Pen-Pal,_ **

 

**_Who’s gonna be scared of an old bag of bones like you?  Not me!  And I’ll have you know I’m also not scared of death, so ha!   You know how many times I’ve almost killed myself on axident? A lot.  So that means I’ve ascaped you a lot, so ha again!  And you even helped me that last time, so ha a third time, Mr.  boneman!_ **

 

**_And if I have to I’ll kiss you so many times you do puke just to show you I’m not scared!_ **

 

**_Yur FRIEND,_ **

**_Frisk_ **

 

**_P.S  To answer yur question, I was hoping we can send letters once a week.  If that’s too much I understand!_ **

 

Sans smirked, placing his feet on his footrest as he reread Frisk’s bold letter, taking a sip of his wine, hearing Madame Snowdrake behind him, dusting around the room, but even if the room weren’t dirty, she would have remained close to Sans just in case one of the many candles that illuminated the library were to go out. 

 

Keep the candles lit and never talk about about the God of Death’s….unusual fear of the dark was an unspoken expectation the two Gods had for their servants and thankfully the servants understood that rule.  Madame Snowdrake though… out of all the servants they had, which weren’t that many, just enough to make sure the Underworld remained lit, well-maintained, and guarded, Sans liked Madame Snowdrake the most.  She seemed extremely dedicated to making sure none of the candles went out from the moment she stepped into her two masters’ house to the time she left.  

 

“Little smartass,” Sans muttered fondly, his smirk turning into a serene smile as he placed the half-filled wine glass (his second glass for the night) and the letter on a table near him and reached for the telescope.  

 

Both brothers had come to a compromise.  When Papyrus was “training” with Undyne or away in the Human Realm, the telescope belonged to Sans.  When Sans was sleeping or away in the Human Realm, the telescope belonged to Papyrus, but when both brothers were home, the telescope was not allowed to be used.  

 

Of course now that Papyrus had that baseball team, Sans had more time to look through the device.  He had a lot more time to himself… to look at the telescope that is.  No, he wasn’t bothered in the least about being by himself even more...in fact, Sans was really glad his brother had a new activity that made him happy.   No, he wasn’t bothered at all.  He loved the silence and being alone.  

 

Sans glanced at Frisk’s letter one more time making sure it was where he left it before putting the device up to his socket.  

 

This time the telescope showed him a young man proposing to a young woman and when Sans caught a glimpse of the lady, he let out a low whistle of admiration.

 

“don’t know what you did to win that beautiful gem, my friend, but kudos to you,” Sans said lowly. 

 

He watched the scene for a few more minutes.  The lovely lady… she seemed shocked and stood in stunned silence as the man remained on his knees, his jewelry offering still in hand and for one second Sans wondered if the lady would return his love.  She was taking her time responding….but then the lady’s beautiful green eyes filled with tears and she tackled her lover to the ground, laughing and crying until the man was laughing and crying with her, and then they kissed passionately and…

 

Sans quickly took the lense away from his socket with a thoughtful frown on his face.   While that display of love was amazing and lovely and downright romantic, if Sans was being honest with himself, it was also puzzling.  

 

He thought of how that beautiful young woman’s eyes lit up at the man’s simple piece of jewelry.  It was just a headdress made from different colored rhinestones.  An inexpensive gift really.  In fact, it probably didn’t cost the man anything more than a few silver coins and based on the way the man was dressed, it was easy to see he wasn’t the wealthiest of humans.  And yet....the lady acted as though he had presented her with the finest gold. 

 

She acted as though that cheap headpiece was the most priceless thing in the whole world just because her lover gave it to her in the greatest act of love one can do for another….

 

Sans couldn’t help it.  He didn’t want to think about it, but his mind wandered to his unused thrones.  One for him and one for his queen.  When he had first created those thrones, he had made sure that only the finest sapphires and rubies decorated his queen’s chair because he knew that once he found her, his queen would deserve only the best of everything. 

 

It still amazed him he could have ever been that young and stupid.  He couldn’t believe that at one point he actually believed he had built a castle and a throne for an imaginary woman he didn’t even have.  He couldn’t believe it took him hundreds of years to realize there was no lover for him waiting to be found.  And that was alright with him now.  **_Perfectly alright._ **

  
  
  


But it wasn’t alright because all of sudden all he could think about was that empty little throne.  The God of Death swallowed, looked at his female servant and cleared his throat to get her attention.  When he had it, he let out a strained chuckle.

 

“say, madame snowdrake… earlier today me and my brother were talking about when we used to live in the castle and i realized that i left those thrones in the middle of the entrance when i left. guess i was in such a rush for a change of scenery that i left those heavy ugly things for you poor people to deal with.  just out of curiosity whatever happened to them?” Sans asked, trying to keep his voice casual and easygoing.

 

He hoped she told him that Endogeny was now using them as a chew toy.  He was hoping she told him Lemon Bread broke them to pieces and used the jewels to decorate the already extravagant CASTLE.  He was hoping they destroyed the those two thrones so utterly and completely that there wasn’t a reason for him to keep thinking about them.

 

No use crying over spilled milk, right?

 

Instead Madame Snowdrake opened her beak and as she spoke little icy puff of white air left her mouth, making Sans feel colder than he already felt.

 

“Where you left them, master,” she answered quietly and quickly.

 

**_where i left them?_ ** Sans thought.  **_i had placed them in entrance room of the castle so i could show off my greatest treasure to all my visitors..._ **

 

The immortal grabbed his half-filled glass of wine and gulped it down, feeling a slight buzz hit him.  His frown deepened at the wine’s effects.  Unlike some immortals who took to drinking day and night, Sans really wasn’t somebody who drank all that often, only doing it every once in awhile when the mood struck him.  In fact, he was a bit of a lightweight when it came to his wine and so he tried to avoid drinking more than a glass a day if he could help.  He didn’t like the feeling of losing himself to a substance.  He liked a clear head.  In his “profession” a clear head was necessary.  A clear head kept him from becoming...emotional...

 

**_that’s enough wine for one night,_ ** he thought to himself and reached for the telescope again.  He  **_needed_ ** a distraction more than ever now.  

 

Placing his socket up to the telescope once again, the odd device showed him acts of love and powerful displays of devotion.  It was actually quite amazing to see the many ways humans can say “I love you” to one another.  Up until Papyrus brought the telescope home, Sans only knew a few things traditions about humans…mostly their death rituals, the ways they can die and their festival each year.

 

As for their love….that was limited too.  The only love Sans ever felt was when a SOUL woke up and remembered who they were.  Then their SOULS shined and projected their love right into Sans, but actually seeing their love in action…it was  **_addicting_ ** .  

 

It made the feared god of death **_feel proud of what he did during the war all those years ago._ **

 

Humans were flawed, there was no denying that, but Sans had to give them credit, when they love….they love hard.  Perhaps a side-effect of being mortal.  

  
  


**_love hard, die happy_ ** , Sans thought with a smile on his face.  

 

********************************************************************************************************

“I know it sounds like fun, but I don’t know, my child.  I really don’t know...perhaps it would be best if we remain on the safe side and just continue having visitors come to our home at the moment.”

 

Thlipsi watched as Frisk’s face fell and that was all it took for the small god to push his fear of the Goddess of Life away.  He puffed up his chest, feeling his SOUL pound with each step he took until he stood before the infamous Goddess who fought against the other immortals all those years ago and won.  

 

Toriel raised her eyebrows curiously as Thlipsi stared directly into her eyes and used the maturest voice he had, which, according to his sister “needed work” but it would have to do.

 

“But Lady Toriel, it will be safe. A lot of children are gonna be playing this sport and Undyne even told me she really likes Frisk and I’ll be on Frisk’s team so I’ll be able to watch over her and make sure nothing bad happens to her… which nothing won’t.” Thlipsi quickly added and when Frisk placed her arm around his shoulders, he felt his courage and confidence increase, along with a warm blush.

 

He puffed up his chest even more.

 

“I even promise you I’ll watch over her every second of the games,” he declared.  

 

“First off, I already told you I can take care of myself, thank you very much Thlipsi” Frisk said directing herself at Thlipsi, shooting him a mean smile before turning her attention to her mom.  The small god felt some of the manliness he had built up slightly deflate.  

 

“But anyways mom, if Thlipsi tells us it’ll be safe you better believe it will be safe.  I’d trust him with anything, including my life.” Frisk declared dramatically and almost instantly the small god regained his confidence.

 

**_She trusts me with her life?!_ ** And it was at that moment that Thlipsi vowed to himself that he would never allow anything bad to happen to his best friend… his crush.   **_EVER._ ** He wrapped his tail around Frisk’s shoulders as he made his vow.  

 

“Please mom?!  Please please please?!”  Frisk begged and as she did, she moved closer to Thlipsi, pressing her cheek up against his and the small god watched out of the corner of his eye as Frisk flashed her mother the prettiest he had ever seen.  His felt his SOUL thump at the sight of it and he wondered if Frisk could feel how hot his face was.

 

A low sound of despair from the goat goddess ripped Thlipsi’s attention away from his crush and he turned his attention back to the deciding factor on whether or not Frisk and he were gonna spend even more time together.

 

He was hopeful as he studied the goddess’ face.  If Toriel’s expression was apologetic before now it seemed completely guilt-ridden and any child could tell you guilt was a good thing to see in a parent.  Thlipsi always used guilt as a way to get his way with his father.  He only hoped that Frisk knew how to play the guilt game just as well as he did.  

 

However, before Toriel or Frisk could say another word, a croaky voice spoke up, making all three of them jump.  

 

Sitting right beside Toriel was the God of Science, Wingdings Gaster, and while it was true that the older god had come with Thlipsi to visit Frisk and Toriel for the day, Wingdings had been so silent the entire time Frisk and Thlipsi were having their “unrehearsed” discussion of Frisk joining Undyne’s baseball team with Toriel that the little god actually forgot the older god was there.  Apparently Toriel did, too, because when she turned to look at the Wingdings, she seemed a little startled herself.  

 

“If I may, Madame Toriel, I believe the little lad is right.  Frisk will be completely safe and what’s more, you will be able to attend the games too just to make sure… nothing were to happen,” he explained logically.

 

When Toriel looked away thinking over his words, the older god looked at the two children, smiled, and winked in their direction.  Frisk returned the wink, her smile lighting up her face while Thlipsi gave the god of science the manliest nod of appreciation he could muster.  

 

Up until this moment, Thlipsi always thought Wingdings Gaster as an odd and somewhat creepy god who kept to himself most of the time, working in his lab for hours on end, but now….

 

Wingdings Gaster became almost as great as Undyne as far as Thlipsi was concerned.  

 

**_I’ll have to thank him properly when we are heading home for the day_ ** , Thlipsi thought.  

 

“Also, if we are discussing a child’s mental health, it isn’t a very good idea to keep a young girl away from social events.  Social skills are a must for any individual, human or immortal, Madame Toriel,” Wingdings explained.

 

Frisk quickly nodded her head.  “That’s right mom.  You could make me insane if I don’t do things with other children regularly.”

 

Thlipsi nodded as well, feeling the scales tip in their favor as Lady Toriel allowed a little amused smile to grace her lips.  “I think she’s already a little crazy too.  We got to stop it before it spreads!”

Frisk gave a little hop of excitement.

 

“Yeah now that you mention it, I do feel a little like climbing the roof and trying to fly-”

 

“Alright alright!” Toriel bleated, a few laughs escaping with her voice before she coughed, turning back to Wingdings Gaster who was watching everything with an amused smile on his face.

 

“If Lord Gaster truly feels it is safe-”

 

“I do,” he said coolly, his amusement fading and being replaced with a slightly annoyed expression, though neither Thlipsi or Toriel paid any mind to it.  Wingdings tended to do that when somebody questioned him.  

 

“Then I suppose we can give it a try-aahhh Frisk!”

 

Thlipsi watched as Frisk tackled her mother with a huge bear hug, giving her kiss after kiss until the goat goddess was laughing hysterically, playfully trying to ward off her daughter’s attack.

 

“Alright, my child,  I do believe you have pressured me enough.  Go outside and play with your little protector,” Toriel said, kissing Frisk’s forehead before the little demigoddess slipped out of her mother’s arms.  “Lord Gaster and myself will be out shortly and remember-” Toriel said, her expression darkening slightly with concern, “please stay close to the cottage.”

 

Frisk nodded, and Thlipsi jumped when his crush grabbed him by his tail and dragged him outside.  

 

When the door closed, Frisk shot him a wild and excited smile.  Thlipsi returned the smile.

 

“It worked!  We’ll be able to-”

 

All words died in his throat when Frisk lunged forward and hugged the small god tightly.  

 

“You are my hero, you know that  Thlipsi? Thank you for everything and I mean everything,” she said, nuzzling his cheek lightly with hers.

 

**_Hug her back!  Hug her back!_ ** His mind kept screaming over and over again, but the little god was frozen in shock.   He couldn’t move.  All he could do was stand there and feel her arms around his body and all he wanted to do was wrap his tail around her waist and complete the hug.  But he couldn’t….he couldn’t find the courage to do it and when Frisk pulled away, her wide and happy smile still on her face, completely unbothered by his lack of reaction, Thlipsi knew he’d messed up.

 

But before he could even say a thing… not that he had anything in his mind he could say, Frisk gave him a playful shove.  

 

“Tag!  You’re it!”  She taunted, sticking her tongue out before running around the cottage.

 

It took Thlipsi a few minutes to break out of his shocked trance, but when he did he gave chase.

 

“You can’t run from me!  I’ll get you!” He screamed back and they played and talked until Wingdings Gaster reminded the small god they needed to head back up the mountain and begrudgingly Thlipsi said goodbye to his crush before following the god of science home.

 

The walk was extremely silent, but Thlipsi had only one thing on his mind:  Frisk.  He could only think about Frisk and her warm hug and all her different types of smiles and the way her eyes lit up… and how she made his SOUL pound.

 

“Lord Gaster…” Thlipsi began, unsure of what he wanted to ask the intelligent god, but needing to talk to somebody about his feelings.

 

The tall god paused and looked down at the little god.  Thlipsi blushed.

 

“I… What… I like Frisk!” he blurted and blushed even harder when the older god croaked out a rough round of laughter.

 

“Obviously, my boy,” the god stated.

 

The little god nodded taking a deep breath, feeling both embarrassed and excited over his spoken feelings for the little demigoddess.

 

“And… and I want her to like me the same way I like her, but…” the armless god shrugged as best he could.  “I don’t know how to do it.  Do you have any suggestions?”

 

A thoughtful smirk came over the older god’s face as he tapped a boney finger to his chin and after a second he snapped his fingers as though he figured it out.  Or at least, Thlipsi hoped he figured something out. 

 

“While there are many differences between immortals and humans, there is one custom that both ours races share and that is presenting a loved one with a gift of affection.”

 

Thlipsi’s smiled.  “Of course!  I’ll give her something that shows her how much I-”

 

Wingdings Gaster waved his hand dismissvely, gaining the little god’s attention and effectively shutting him up.

 

“It can’t be just any gift, my boy.  It needs to be a gift that truly reflects how you felt about her the very moment you realized you loved her,” Wingdings tapped Thlipsi’s head.  “Think, boy.  What was the very first thought you had when you saw little Frisk?”  

 

And Thlipsi thought about the first moment he laid eyes on Frisk.  What was the very first thing he noticed about her?

 

His eyes widened and his grin nearly exploded onto his face as he gave the smirking god of science a grateful bow.

 

“Thank you, Lord Gaster!  I think I have it now and if you don’t mind I need to run ahead of you.  It’s getting late, and I don’t want to miss a chance to discuss something with Lady Muffet!”

 

The god of science noddded.  “Of course, my boy.”

 

******************************************************************************************************

 

**_Dear Sans,_ **

**_We are having our first base-ball game soon against yur brother’s team in the next few days.  Undyne has been training us everyday for nearly a month now and she’s really determined to destroy your brother.  She even put me as her pitcher!  Can you believe that?  Of coarse Undyne keeps telling me if I cause the team to lose against yur brother, she’ll curse me to the day I die!  She said that in front of my mom too, but Undyne was also banddaging a cut I got during praktice so mom only rolled her eyes and told Undyne she had always been too cumpetitev to have fun and then Undyne told my mom she was too boring to know what “fun” was._ **

 

**_And mom laughed!  I think mom’s coming around and seeing mom laugh with Undyne made me realise that maybe one day you two could be laughing with each other too.  I know that’s a long time away if that does happen, but I never thought Undyne and mom would ever get along._ **

  
  


**_I like being on a team.  I’ve made a lot of friends, even though a lot of them still look at me as a human.  Not in a bad way though.  They aren’t mean.  I think they think humans are weeker so I think they are afraid of being too ruff with me.  But Undyne and Thlipsi are there to remind them I can take a beating too.  Well Undyne said that._ **

 

**_You know, the game is sopposd to be a hooj event since it’s the first ever game played between teams.  There’s gonna be a lot of immortals coming and I think you should come too!_ **

 

**_Yur friend,_ **

**_Frisk_ **

******************************************************************************************************

“IT’S OKAY IF YOU STRIKE OUT, LITTLE HUMAN!  NOBODY WILL GET MAD AT YOU!  OF COURSE STRIKING OUT MEANS THAT MY TEAM WILL WIN AND WHILE THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS WINS, I WISH YOU THE BEST-”

 

“Don’t let that bonehead get in your head, human!  And I will be furious if you make us lose!”

 

Frisk smirked as she relaxed her batting stance and turned around to watch the seventeenth fight of the day unfold between the two coaches.  Most of the other children seemed to share in her amusement and as well in addition to the entire stadium full of immortals.  

 

The game had lasted seven hours already and it had nothing to do with the actual game.  The match kept getting delayed because of the random fights that keep occurring between the tall skeleton god and the fish goddess.  The fights would always start out the same way.  During a really intense moment of the game Papyrus would start shouting out words of “encouragement” to Undyne’s players and then Undyne lose her temper.  The huge crowd of immortals that came to watch the game, whether they had children playing or not, loved it!  

 

Of course after a few minutes of fighting and exchanging words, the umpire would get involved.  Frisk’s smirk widened when she saw Alphys sigh.  

 

“U-Undyne!  B-Be n-nice to Frisk!”  

 

“Oh come on, Alphys, she knows that’s how I encourage her!  I wouldn’t get angry….okay I would but she knows how it is.  Frisk is fine!”

 

Alphys smiled tiredly at Frisk, who nodded her head at the dusty and exhausted empire .  After a month of training with Undyne, Frisk knew the fish lady well.  Everything Undyne said, she meant, but not literally.

 

**_Nice try, human.  Don’t get down yourself.  Keep practicing and you’ll get it, but don’t screw up like that during the game or I’ll gut ya!_ **

 

**_Nice catch, human!!!  See team?!  That’s a catch, but if you don’t do it like that during our game, I swear you’ll be dead before your mother can blink, human._ **

 

**_Go! Go! Go human!  Run those bases faster!  I know you can do it so do it, and if you don’t I’ll start chasing you!_ **

 

Undyne always meant the good stuff whenever she spoke.  The threats were just a mindless afterthought.  Yes… Frisk loved that fish goddess alright.  Just like she loved Alphys, who was always right beside Undyne just to make sure that everybody around the fish goddess knew what a great person she was.  Undyne very often returned the favor.  

 

Frisk often wondered when those two would stop acting so shy and silly and just kiss already.

 

“I’D LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REPEAT THE FACT THAT WHILE UNDYNE’S TEAM IS GREAT, NOT AS GREAT AS MINE OF COURSE, BUT STILL GREAT, I BELIEVE THIS GAME HAS BEEN PUT IN UNDYNE’S FAVOR!  ALPHYS IS THE UMPIRE!  AND WE ALL KNOW ALPHYS AND UNDYNE ARE-”

 

“P-Papyrus!  You k-know I’ve have b-been a f-fair umpire!”

 

“Yeah, she has been so shut up!”

 

“Why don’t you all just shut up and let the children have some damn fun!?”

 

The crowd of immortals burst out laughing as Gerson’s voice cut through the air silencing everybody.  Frisk watched as even her mother covered her mouth to hide her giggles as the old turtle beside her sat down again and shook his head grumpily muttering something to Toriel who nodded her head sympathetically at whatever he said.  

 

Frisk smiled.  Poor old man’s been sitting there for hours now.  He probably wanted to go home, but like everybody else, wanted to see who won.  

 

“P-Play ball!”

 

The crowds quieted down as Frisk got back into her batting stance.  

 

Papyrus’ pitcher, a young cat-monster, smirked at her. She winked at him, hoping her flirting had the same effect on him it had during the earlier parts of the game.  During the previous innings, the cat had kept blushing and gave her easy pitches to hit.  Unfortunately, with Papyrus’ team up by one point, the bases loaded and Frisk had two strikes on her; the cat monster finally had his priorities straight.  

 

“Come on, Frisk you can do it!” Thlipsi called out from third base, his back hunched down in a running position, ready to rush home plate as soon as the ball was hit.

 

Frisk nodded.  She could do this!  

 

The pitcher threw the ball.  It came at her fast.   It was a good one and just as Frisk went to swing she saw a flash of black at the corner of her eye.  And then the bat made contact with the ball and Frisk winced.  It was a weak hit.  She KNEW it was a weak hit.  She didn’t hit it hard enough.  

 

But the ball went flying over the heads of all the stunned players like she had hit it with all her strenght and it flew and it flew and it flew and Frisk could only watch in baffled amazement as it kept going until it was long gone.

 

The crowds went wild.  Toriel went wild, screaming “that’s my child!”  Undyne went wild screaming “in your face, losers!”  Thlipsi went wild.   Papyrus… kind of went wild, and as Frisk rounded the bases, a smirk of realization replaced her baffled confusion. 

 

When she hit home plate again, she was tackled by her teammates; the very first one to hug her was Thlipsi, the second one Undyne.

 

And when the stadium cleared out after the team congratulated each other and after Undyne apologized for calling the other children “losers”, there were only a few people left: the two coaches, Alphys, Thlipsi, Toriel, Binkie, Gerson, Tops, and Whisk.   Frisk watched as Papyrus looked around at everybody and grinned, wrapping his massively long arms around the closest people to him which happened to be Frisk, Undyne, Thlipsi, and Alphys.

 

“I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, BELIEVE THIS DAY SHOULD BE CELEBRATED AS A DAY OF FRIENDSHIP!  LET’S US ENJOY A GREAT DINNER MADE BY YOURS TRULY, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He declared and winked at Frisk.  

 

Everybody immediately turned to Toriel and Frisk felt her hope rise as the goat goddess looked around, a strange look of uncertainty crossing the goddess’ face before she recovered with a warm smile.  

 

“I’ll bring the dessert,” she said and everybody cheered.

 

And Frisk was happy, but she felt like something was missing.

*************************************************************************************************

Sans watched from the shadows as the small group left the newly built stadium.  He smirked, feeling a sense of accomplishment flow through him.  It had been centuries since he felt this way.  Since the war actually, now that he thought about it. 

 

“Good game, kiddo,” he said, and vanished spending the rest of his day taking a long nap until Papyrus came home and impatiently woke him up.

 

The brothers sat at the dinner table and talked as the shorter god started to eat the plate of spaghetti his brother had brought home from the small celebration.  He’d also brought along a slice of Toriel’s famous Cinnamon Butterscotch pies.  Out of spite, the shorter skeleton decided not to eat it and focused on Papyrus’ terrible tasting pasta.

 

The two brothers made it a point not to talk about how great the after-party was.  Instead they talked about the game.

 

“i can’t believe toriel’s little human brat stole the game at the end, bro.  stronger than she looks, that’s for sure.  better luck next time, huh?” Sans said slyly as Papyrus grinned widely.

 

“UNDYNE MAY HAVE WON THAT FIRST GAME, BUT THERE’S PLENTY MORE GAMES AHEAD!  MARK MY WORDS, BROTHER, SHE MAY HAVE WON THE BATTLE, BUT THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL WIN THE WAR!”

 

Sans chuckled, finishing his plate of pasta and eyeing the delicious smelling slice of pie only a few inches from him.  His need for something sweet overpowered his dislike for the goat goddess and he tried it.  He hoped it tasted terrible.  It tasted amazing.  Of course it tasted amazing.  

 

**_everything that old goat does is amazing as far as the humans are concerned,_ ** Sans bitterly thought before finishing the rest of it up in two bites much to his brother’s disgust.  

 

“BROTHER!  YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD CHEW-”

 

“i’m heading off to bed, paps,” Sans said forging a yawn.  Thankfully his brother nodded in agreement.

 

“YES I BELIEVE IT IS GETTING LATE AND WE HAVE….” Papyrus looked away.  Sans looked at the empty plate on the table, knowing what his brother was going to say.  “WE HAVE A BUSY DAY TOMORROW.  WE SHOULD GET SOME REST.”

 

**_yeah, a busy day,_ ** Sans thought grimly and just as he was about to walk up the stairs to his room, Papyrus grabbed his arm.

 

“I ALMOST FORGOT!  THE LITTLE HUMAN WROTE THIS FOR YOU!”

 

And when Sans reached for the envelope, he felt a little bit of his grim attitude leave him, but he waited until after he had bid his brother goodnight and was laying on his bed before he opened the letter.

  
  


**_Dear Cheater,_ **

 

**_I know it was you that helped me win that game against yur brother.   And now I’m a cheater too because I didn't’ tell anybody because I really wanted to win!  Don’t worry about it though, I’ll get over it!_ **

 

**_So… I know you know that we celebrated after the game and you didn’t come.  You should have.  You are my friend too, but you know how my mom is.  It’s not a good excuese and I really don’t know what to say except I’m sorry.  But I got an idea on how you and me can spend time with each other since we can’t do it like I can with the others._ **

 

**_So here’s my plan.  Every year the humans have that festavol and I can go to it alone without mom.  That’s when we can meet.  Of coarse you can’t tell me it’s you.  I promised my mom I wouldn’t talk to you, so here’s what you do, you dress yurself as a human….wear the purple robe that the human men wear, but add a hood to it so it covers your face….meet me at whatever village I choose, don’t tell me its you, just...give me hints...and we can hang out there._ **

 

**_Sounds fun right?  And don’t worry, the humans are really really really nice!_ **

 

**_Love from yur cheating friend,_ **

**_Frisk_ **

 

Sans had to reread the letter three times to make sure  he was reading it correctly before he let out a harsh laughter of disbelief.  That had to be the dumbest, most ridiculous plan he had ever heard in his whole entire life and he was included Asgore’s war against humanity.  

 

He laughed harder as he reread the letter.  The irony was astounding and priceless.  He, the god of death, come to a party celebrating the Goddess of Life’s own holiday, honoring her victory over the other immortals?!

 

As he laughed he tried to focus hard on his more superior thoughts about the kid’s stupid plan.  **And it was stupid.** **And childish.  And unrealistic.  And thoughtful.**

 

**_guess it is kind of nice that the kid is thinking of me,_ ** Sans thought as a more warm chuckle left his mouth.   **_and it’s nice to know the brat wouldn’t have left me out if it were up to her.  Gonna have to break her bubble though.  No use giving her false hope about something that’s not gonna happen._ **

**********************************************************************************************

Laying in bed, Frisk opened Sans’ letter, eager for his response.

 

**_dear kid,_ **

 

**_first off, i don’t know what you are talking about.  i didn’t help you win that game.  i was rooting for my brother’s team so why would i help the other team?  i swear you think i’m a nice person or something._ **

 

**_secondly, while i appreciate you wanting to spend time with me, that plan is not going to happen so just get it out of your head now.  i’m gonna be honest with you, i don’t even attend my own race’s parties so i’m not gonna attend a human party honoring the day your mother crushed my side in wartime.  plus i’m no fun when it comes to parties.  i can’t even dance and i’ve seen those festivals.  you humans love dancing._ **

 

**_let’s just stick with the letters.  i’m fine with that._ **

 

**_-Sans_ **

 

The disappointment lasted only a second, before Frisk smirked challengingly and hopped out of bed and then quickly hopped out of her window. Once outside, she started focusing the small amount of magic she had in her SOUL and only after a few seconds she began to sweat.  

 

**_It’s easier to do this in the HUMAN REALM_ ** , Frisk thought feeling her body begin to exhaust itself as the first of many flowers began to pop out of the earth.

***********************************************************************************************

 

Sans tilted his head at how lumpy his envelope was this week.  He opened it up and the first thing that greeted his vision was a crown of brightly colored (and somewhat withered) flowers.  He frowned and picked it up before reading the kid’s latest note.

 

**_Dear Sans,_ **

 

**_HA! Now you have to go!  That human tradistion!  Every year girls make crowns of flowers and give it to the  people they want to go to the_ ** **_festavol with.  You accepted the my letter, so you accepted my crown.  So there._ **

 

**_Now that that’s out of the way, I hurd your brother's brithday is coming up.  What should I give him as a gift?_ **

 

**_Love from you friend,_ **

**_Frisk_ **

 

Sans looked at the crown of flowers that were still in his hand.

 

**_okay, was not expecting that from the stupid brat,_ ** Sans thought now feeling his cheekbones lit up and fighting that warm feeling growing in his chest.  He didn’t want to admit it, but now he really was flattered and amazed that the kid hadn’t just dropped the issue.

 

It made him feel bad he was gonna have to tell her no.  The flower crown really was pretty, and Sans could tell she put a lot of effort into making it.  He could feel his SOUL ache a little about what he was gonna write in his next letter.  He was going to be much clearer this time when he told her there was no way, not in a million years, would he ever attend one of Toriel’s holidays.

 

**_TEN MONTHS LATER_ **

Sans stood in the mirror feeling his cheekbones blush harshly as he looked himself over.  The purple garment Madame Snowdrake made matched the human men’s perfectly, except instead of being a toga, it was a purple hooded robe that covered up every inch of the god’s body for...obvious reason.  Aside from that, everything else matched.  It had the same white symbols on it, and flowed down past his ankles.  

 

Papyrus stood from behind watching his brother and stroking the red scarf Frisk made for him for his brithday.  It had been nearly nine months since his birthday and not once had the younger god taken off his scarf and Sans had to admit:  the kid’s gift did suit Papyrus well.

 

“PUT YOUR HOOD UP, BROTHER,” Papyrus ordered, placing his hands on his hips, daring Sans to challenge it.

 

Sans sighed and did as he was told, flipping his hood up.  He couldn’t believe the brat actually told Papyrus her plan even after the older god had caved in and agreed to do this stupid thing.  He knew why she did it too, making sure he would come, but still….

 

He was gonna have to pull a few tricks on her tonight for that one and to his amazement when he looked his reflection he was surprised to find an excited smile on his double’s face.  

 

**_i’m pathetic,_ ** sans thought and almost covered his face.  

 

“HMMMM…” Papyrus hummed thoughtfully.  “I CAN STILL SEE YOUR MOUTH, BROTHER AND YOU HAVE TO BLEND IN WITH THE HUMANS!”

 

Sans felt a sort of panic hit him when he realized his brother was right.  While the hood covered the upper part of his face, his boney grin was still showing.  

 

If the humans found out the god of death was at a party, there would be panic and there would be no doubt that Toriel would find out about it and then…..

 

Sans didn’t know what would happen then, but the Goddess of Life wasn’t a stupid woman.  She would at least realize it was more than just some coincidence that the god of death and her kid were at the same town.   Sans didn’t know how she would respond, but he knew it wouldn’t be good.  Not for anybody.

 

Papyrus frowned too and continued stroking his scarf.  After a second, he stopped, looked at the red garment and grinned.

 

“I GOT AN IDEA!”  Papyrus said.  “MADAME SNOWDRAKE!”

 

The female servant came rushing in, giving a slight bow.  

 

“DO YOU STILL HAVE SOME PURPLE MATERIAL LEFT OVER FROM THE ROBE?”

 

The servant nodded.

 

“NYEH HEH HEH HEH!  BRING A LONG PIECE TO ME, PLEASE!”

 

It only took a second for the servant to bring back the material and when she did, Papyrus wrapped it around Sans’ mouth like a scarf and when he was done, the taller skeleton stood back and admire his work with a satisfied smirk on his face.

 

Sans’ face was completely covered now.

 

“WELL BROTHER? WHAT DO YOU THINK?”

 

Sans began to say he couldn’t talk all that well, but before he could, Papyrus grabbed his hand and ushered him out the door.

 

“GREAT!  NOW COME ON!  THE HUMANS WILL BE STARTING THE CELEBRATION SOON AND THE RIVER PERSON IS WAITING FOR YOU!”

 

And despite himself, Sans couldn’t help but feel more excitement build in him.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a big shout out to ShiningWings for being our beta reader for this chapter! <3
> 
> Also on a note from Staringback: her next chapter of sooner or later should be out in the next week and a half!


	8. The Pep Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GENTLE JESUS HOW LONG DID THIS UPDATE TAKE?!!! Thank you all for your love, kindness, comments, support, kudos and above all; patience! <3

“LET US THANK THE GREAT MOTHER FOR HER LOVE AND PROTECTION!”

And once those words were spoken, the celebration broke out in full swing.

Sans looked up at the sky and felt that familiar bit of dismay and unease fill him as the final rays of the sun began to go down, allowing the first twinkles of twilight to appear. There was still enough light on the land to keep the god of death calm, but he knew that in a short period of time the night and all the darkness it had to offer would be upon them.  

 

However, the village he and the little brat would be entering was already brightly lit.  As both of them secretly watched from a distance, the loud music from the human musicians began to fill the air. The god of death was relieved to see that the village was decorated with illuminating torches and a massive bonfire that was already blazing wildly. It gave the charming little area a slightly orange, warm, and welcoming look to it, and while it did put his SOUL at ease to see how prepared this village was for celebrating all throughout the night, there was another problem that caused his SOUL to start pulsing unpleasantly.

 

“so this is the village you chose to visit for this year, kid? kind of small, don’t you think?” the skeleton asked the demigoddess, hoping he didn’t sound as nervous as he felt.  How pathetic would that look? A powerful god showing fear to a tiny little mortal child? 

 

He was about to continue when the briefest whiff of all that good food from the village hit his nasal cavity, causing a twinge of hunger to hit him, momentarily distracting him. 

 

**_how long has it been since I’ve had human food?_ ** He thought to himself. Years. That’s how long it had been.  He hadn’t had human food in hundreds of years, but from what he remembered of it, it surpassed all that rich, overly decorative, almost annoyingly perfect food the other gods and goddesses cheerfully stuffed down their throats without a moment’s hesitation. The food on MOUNT EBOTT was so perfect it was nearly unbearable.  

 

That’s why he loved his brother’s spaghetti so much.  Admittedly, it was burnt and had way too much over-seasoned sauce gobbed on it most of the time… But Papyrus was the only god who cooked without using **_too much_ ** magic, and so it was the closest thing to human food MOUNT EBOTT had.  Of course, the other immortals only pretended to enjoy Papyrus’ cooking, but Sans could eat his brothers’ food and only his brother’s food for eternity with joy.

 

The demigoddess looked up at him questioningly.  Sans couldn’t help smirking as Toriel’s protective crown of Golden Flowers slipped and covered his small companion’s eyes briefly before she huffed irritably and pulled the headband up so it rested high on her head.  

 

All in all, the kid didn’t look half bad, though Sans was surprised Toriel hadn’t dressed her up more, considering it was the old goat’s own celebration that her daughter was attending.  The demigoddess didn’t look unkempt by any means, in fact she was dressed up in a clean, brightly dyed yellow tunic with the traditional purple cloak on her shoulders, but she didn’t look anywhere near as impressive as she had been when she first entered MOUNT EBBOT in that brilliant white tunic with those pearls in her hair.  

 

On that day she really did look like the child of a goddess. Now she just looked like any other human child, if one were to ignore the flowers that would instantly sprout up underneath her bare feet. The humans would definitely know it was her as soon as she stepped into their village.  They would notice her right away and… and him, too.

 

“You know, it’s hard to hear you when your mouth is covered like that, Sans,” the child said, placing her hands on her hips, but there was an amused glint in her eyes as she looked over what Sans assumed was his ridiculous disguise.  While he never normally went out on the day of Toriel’s celebration, Sans knew it was traditional for the men to wear long togas and if it weren’t for the purple color and Toriel’s symbols of protection and life on his robe, Sans absolutely knew he would have been mistaken for a  _ woman,  _ and even worse than that, an ugly woman who was too ashamed to show her face!

 

However, it was too late to turn back now.  Despite his promise to his brother that he would have a “good time” with the little demigoddess, Papyrus, as he always seemed to do, went that extra step and ordered the River Person to head back down to the UNDERWORLD after Sans got off the boat and not come back until the break of dawn when the celebration was over.  

 

Oh yes, his beloved younger brother had thought of EVERYTHING.  

 

Of course, Sans would have been lying if he said having no way back home for hours was the reason why he stood half a mile away away from the human village he and the little brat would soon be entering.

 

The kid had looked so excited to see him when he had suddenly appeared beside her. She had let out a squeal of glee and began hopping all around the motionless god, clapping her hands and leaving trails of beautiful flowers wherever she stepped.  

 

When was the last time somebody had been that excited to see  _ him?   _ Or rather, was there ever a time when somebody was excited to see him  _ at all? _  Sans didn’t bother racking his mind for an answer and ruining the moment. It didn’t matter that it was a child, and a HUMAN child at that ...somebody was thrilled beyond belief to see him, and Sans, being the lowly hated creature he was, was just going to take whatever affection his sad pathetic existence threw his way. Even if it was from some stupid little brat who would learn soon enough to hate him, but until then, why shatter the illusion?

With a grunt, the god reached a gloved hand up and slightly pulled the impromptu purple scarf away from his mouth in order to be heard much more clearly.

 

“i asked why’d you chose a small little village like this one? don’t you know the bigger towns and cities probably have a lot more food to offer and much better musicians than a small little place like this one?”  

 

**_and more people to blend into_ ** , Sans mentally added. If he entered a small village like this, dressed the way he was, he’d definitely get noticed, and not just by a handful of people, either.  Chances were that as soon as he stepped into this little place, every eye would land on him and there was a good chance that between the massive amount of drinking that was gonna occur, and for the sake of satisfying their curiosity, the humans would try to talk to the oddly dressed stranger. Of course, if that came up, he was going to act like a mute, but still ...the idea of being social with anybody, let alone humans, after  _ so many of years _ standing in the background in silence, was enough to get Sans sweating.  

 

The demigoddess rolled her eyes as though the answer was obvious. Sans grinned, feeling some of his nervousness fade away. Spoiled little brat.  

 

“I really gotta tell you why?”

 

Sans tsked at her.  

 

“if i’m gonna honor these people with my divine and powerful presence and mingle among the common humans-” Sans made sure his voice was haughty and his posture was as stiff as it could be as he placed his arms arrogantly behind his back. It had the desired effect;  the kid giggled. “- i demand to know why you chose such a small, humble village,  **_mortal_ ** .”

 

To his delight, the human played along, stiffening her body up as well and pulling back as if offended.  As she spoke, she tried and failed to match a tone that was just as prissy and snobbish as Sans’ had been. She almost sounded like she were mimicking Mettaton.

 

“Well, I thought you were an intelligent god, but if I must explain why, that confirms my belief that you really are an empty  **_bonehead-_ ** ”

 

“ ...heh heh heh heh!  bonehead!” Sans repeated, chuckling a little too loud and long at that, but the kid went on undisturbed, still trying to maintain her sad excuse of a snobbish attitude before a mischievous glint hit her eyes.  

 

“-but I’ll have you know it’s not the size that counts-” 

 

Sans felt his sockets widen as Frisk paused to giggle at her joke and amazingly Sans felt his cheekbones flare up, relieved that his stupid disguise was hiding his blush.  

 

**_did the goddess of life’s kid… knowingly… just… make a sex joke?_ ** Sans took another look at her pleased expression and mentally nodded.   **_she knows exactly what she was saying.  maybe creating friendships with us immortals was not a good idea._ ** Sans chuckled silently.   **_i’d like to be there when she makes a joke like that to toriel. that old goat’s shocked face would be priceless…_ **

 

“-small or big places, the food is always great and the music is always something to dance to. If I go to a big place I won’t be able to meet everybody. That’s why I usually choose smaller villages!”  And with that answer, she let out an impatient growl and grabbed his gloved hand, the feel of her chubby, tiny hand sending shock waves throughout Sans’ body ...the only other person who ever touched him was his own brother… and began pulling him towards the village.  When the god of death didn’t move, the little demigoddess groaned, flinging her head up to the sky as if she were begging for help from the stars. 

 

“Come on! I  We’re wasting time here! The good food is always the first thing to go and if we’re gonna have time to dance and talk with everybody, we gotta start right as the festival is beginning. We can’t afford to waste even a second, now move!”

 

Sans obediently took a step forward, her hand still holding his as he smiled sadly into his scarf. 

 

**_Stars… if Toriel ever saw this, she’d rip my hand off,_ ** he thought before his sad smile became bitter. 

 

**_If i were her mother and i saw my kid with somebody like me, i’d tear off my hand too._ **

 

Looking down, Sans was surprised to see a small ring of brightly colored flowers circling him, no doubt a result of when the little brat was hopping around him.  He halted his next step and felt bad as his mockingly slow pace resulted in him accidentally crushing a small group of flowers that made up part of the little ring.  

 

The kid… didn’t seem to notice.

 

“Sans! Come on! Quit dragging your feet! The music is getting faster and that’s the only type of music I dance to. I look  _ stupid  _ slow dancing and I’m gonna be really, really mad if you make me look stupid!”

 

Trying to shake off his somewhat dark mood, it was a party after all, Sans finally let out a defeated chuckle and began to walk a little bit faster and as they neared the small village, whatever good humor he had been trying to build for himself instantly fading as he started to hear the laughter of the humans get louder.  He felt his SOUL begin to beat a little quicker. 

 

**_stars, just relax.  it’s just a stupid party,_ ** he told himself, but just as soon as he told himself that, a much more horrible thought seem to sneak it’s way into his mind.   

 

**_Yeah. a stupid party filled with people who hate me even more than the immortals do._ ** Sans paused once again, halting his movements earning another groan from the demi-goddess.  Anxiety and guilt began to eat at him as it always seemed to do when he thought too long and hard about what he had become.   **_that’s right.  they hate me. i take their children, lovers, and family away from them, and i’m going to one of their parties to enjoy the very festival where they celebrate life-_ **

 

“Sans?” The kid’s gentle voice broke through his thoughts and when he looked down, the demigoddess no longer looked impatient or annoyed.  Her wide eyes were filled with a type of sincere concern that took the god of death by surprise and once the shock wore off, the discomfort settled in, but he would be lying if he said there wasn’t a small part of him that basked in her concern.

 

**_first the hand-holding and now this? how starved for affection am i?_ **

 

“Are you okay?” The kid didn’t wait for him to answer before she began speaking again, and as she spoke, her cheeks turned red, almost as though she didn’t want to be talking about what she was talking about.

 

“...Papyrus …” she said shyly and so quietly that Sans could barely hear her as the music from the village became even louder. “Papyrus ...he ...he told me that you might be a little scare ...um… not scared ...sorry I don’t know why I used that word ...sorry ...but he said you weren’t used to being around humans in this way, but that’s okay-”

 

**_oh stars, the child of the goddess of life is comforting the god of death.  i have truly have gone as low as i can get,_ ** he thought, but didn’t interrupt, and he didn’t want to interrupt because Papyrus had been the only person in his life that ever comforted him, and even if the words were coming from a stupid little spoiled kid that didn’t know any better, the pure sincerity in her voice calmed him and he was gonna take anything he could get.  

 

“-but the humans are really nice!  There’s nothing to worry about!” 

 

The silence lingered a little too long, but the demigoddess patiently waited for him to say something.  

 

“i hate to tell you this, kid, but i saw you play baseball and you have no problem looking stupid there.”

 

**_kill the tension with a joke,_ ** Sans thought and was relieved when the kid took the bait and waved her hand dismissively at his comment with a smile on her face but kept her other hand wrapped tightly around his. The kid could be persistently annoying, but Sans had to say, she had a good sense of humor.  Any other immortal, save Papyrus, would have been offended by the joke and even sometimes Papyrus tended to get annoyed when Sans kept up with the jokes. 

  
  


“My golden baseball trophy says otherwise,  _ bonehead _ ,” the kid said proudly before glaring at him, giving his disguise one more look over.

 

“You know, you talk arrogantly for a man who dresses like a-”

 

“be careful what you say, kid. i can shorten your life expectancy, you know.”

 

The kid scoffed, unafraid. “So can me falling off a tree and breaking my neck. So ...can we  **_please_ ** go now?”

 

Sans stalled for a few more seconds, the music, the smell of the food, the laughter of the humans, the orange color of the village, the darkness of the night hitting his back and the feel of the brat’s excited tiny hand still holding his much larger hand all blending together.  He hadn’t even entered the stupid village and already he could tell this was one of the best and yet most horrible experiences of his life. 

 

“what are you just standing around for, kid? let’s go already,”  Sans grunted.

 

With a shout of excitement, Frisk began pulling Sans’ hand and this time, Sans followed her much quicker pace.  

 

“This is gonna be so much fun, Sans!” the kid squealed, her eyes brimming with happiness and after seeing that look of joy in her face, Sans felt a sense of both accomplishment and despair enter him.  

 

**_too late to turn back now,_ ** Sans thought, the music getting louder, making it harder for him to hear the kid talk. Excluding Papyrus, Frisk was the only person he made happy, and the thought of him destroying that achievement and seeing that look of pure joy be ripped from her face was now gone. Now he  _ had  _ to attend the party. And it was all because of that stupid look on her face.

 

**_stupid little human,_ ** Sans thought as Frisk’s eyes widened.

 

“OH! Sans, I get the first dance with you!”  the kid shouted over the music.

 

Sans openly laughed at that.  “kid, i am not dancing. i said i’d come here with you, but I’m NOT dancing.”

 

“It’ll be fun, but like I said we have to dance to one of those fast songs, otherwise I’ll look stupid,” Frisk explained, completely ignoring what Sans just said.

 

A pinch of annoyance hit the skeleton as they continued to walk.  

 

“i’m not dancing, frisk,” he repeated, his voice becoming louder to override the music.

 

Frisk nodded her head, not looking at him. “You have to!   _ Everybody  _ dances,” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

 

Now Sans’ annoyance increased.  Was the kid deaf or something?

 

“and i’m telling you, it’s not gonna happen.”

 

Continuing to walk, Frisk looked up at him, her joy and excitement replaced with a very serious look.

 

“Yes, you are.”  

 

Sans blinked his sockets at the response.  

 

“no, i’m not, human. i said no, and i meant no. Besides, i don’t even know how to dance,” he said, hoping that statement would shut the kid up and to his irritation and horror the serious look vanished and a look of relief came over the kid’s face.

 

“Oh is that it? Why didn’t you say so before? Dancing is easy! I’ll teach you!”

 

“no you won’t!”

 

“Sure I will!”

 

Her confident, overly cheerful tone began to irk Sans something awful.  

 

“look kid, i hate dancing, i’m not gonna dance, and i’m sure not gonna have you teach me, now get that through your thick skull.”

 

The kid instantly stopped and the sudden action almost caused Sans to topple over the small child, but he managed to regain his balance at the last minute.

 

Sans looked down and was a little taken aback to see a very sour and unpleasant look on the child’s face.  It was an expression he had never seen on her face before and while it was adorable in a sense, it didn't suit her at all.

 

“Let me see if I understand you:  Even though I offer you my first dance and am even willing to teach you how to dance, you’ve declined me?”

 

“i will happily go to this silly party with you, but dancing is not gonna happen.”

 

The kid’s eyes narrowed as a tight, straight line formed on her lips, but the hard, cold look lasted only a second before she brightened up again. Sans blinked his sockets at the sudden change of expression.

 

“Okay!  You don’t have to dance with ME if you don’t want to, Sans!  I, personally,  _ won’t  _ teach you!  Now, are you ready to have a great night?!” the little demigoddess cheered, and when Sans looked up, he was surprised to see that they were at the entrance of the village.

 

He had been so distracted by their stupid argument he hadn’t realized how fast they’d arrived at the village.  All the nervousness that had faded during their talk came back in full force. 

 

The village wasn’t big at all and so they could clearly see the town square where a majority of the celebration was taking place. Sans could see the men swinging their partners around.  He could see all the pretty flowers woven into the womens' hair, and finally he could see all that food in the way back, a few yards away from where all that dancing was going on.

 

**_maybe this won’t be so bad after all,_ ** Sans thought as he felt a sort of calmness wash over him as he found he couldn’t tear his sockets away from the dancers. It was easy to tell which people were dancing with others just for fun and which couples were real lovers. The lovers held each other more tightly, their smiles were much brighter, and their eyes a lot softer.  Even from this distance, Sans could see that, and seeing it in person as opposed to through Papyrus’ telescope allowed a much warmer and happier feeling to enter Sans’ SOUL. 

 

**_i’ll just sit down, eat some food, and watch the humans dance._ **

 

Sans took the first step into the village and Frisk happily followed him, already dancing to the beat, bouncing and skipping all around him and as they came near to the humans, it didn’t take long for one to notice the little demi-goddess and the flowers that followed her.

 

While Sans knew the humans saw Frisk visiting their village as a blessing from Toriel, he was completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of screaming and cheering and praise that came from them. The noises they made were so loud and wild that the sounds seemed to rattle his bones and when he took a look at the kid’s face, he was surprised to see the uneasiness and embarrassment that Frisk was trying to hide with a wide smile.

 

**_she’s been taking part in these celebrations for years, i figured she’d be used to it by now,_ ** Sans thought, and was just about to edge away from the kid and head to the food when Frisk grabbed his hand tightly, a wicked smile forming on her face as she finally spoke.

 

“Thank you all for welcoming me to your beautiful village. It’s an honor to be here!” Frisk said warmly. Many humans called back their appreciation for her visit and like a true daughter of Toriel, Frisk waited until they were all done before before she began again.

 

Sans tried to pull his hand away from hers, but her grip simply tightened.

 

**_let go, you stupid brat,_ ** Sans thought viciously, now knowing people were looking at him.   **_great, now i have to act like a mute. Thanks a lot kid-_ **

 

“I have a problem and I was hoping the lovely ladies of this wonderful village could help me solve it!  What do you all say?” Frisk said and in response she got a pretty chorus of female voices offering their help.

 

Sans took his other hand and tried to pry the kid’s hand off his other one, but her grip was like iron. If Sans wasn’t fuming with rage, he might have been impressed with her strength.

 

“This is my good friend San… ford…, who is accompanying me tonight-”

 

Sans felt his sockets widen in disbelief and it was then that Frisk’s wicked little smile grew.  

 

“kid,” Sans whispered.  “what are you-”

 

“-and even though he’s really really really really really really really-” she paused to take a breath, “-really really really old, he’s never learned how to dance!   So which one of you beautiful ladies wants to teach this poor old fellow how to dance?!” Frisk called out.

 

The chorus of excitement would have deafened Sans… if he had ears… and as the rush of women came at him, their colorful garments attacking his vision, all Sans could do to in those last few minutes was glare down at his tiny companion who looked more than a little pleased with herself.

 

“Congratulation, kid. You just lost half your life-” and before he could finish his sentence, a young, pretty lady grabbed his gloved hand and pulled him into the middle of the dance floor. 

 

As the music began to play again, the last thing he saw before the lady twirled him, laughing as she did so, was Frisk waving to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big shout out to ShiningWings for being our beta reader for this chapter! <3
> 
> Also if you want to see more work from both MrWar and Staringback, please give our other fic, Chocolate Dripped Spaghetti Noodles a try! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are welcomed!


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